[CALL TO ORDER]
[00:00:02]
THE TIME IS 5:02 PM I'M GONNA CALL, UM, THIS REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE, UH, URBAN CITY OF AUSTIN URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION, COMMISSION TO ORDER.
UM, WITH THAT, AS ALWAYS, OUR FIRST ITEM IS PUBLIC COMMUNICATION ON GENERAL ITEMS. DO WE HAVE ANY SPEAKERS SIGNED UP VIRTUALLY OR IN PERSON TO SPEAK ON ITEMS NOT ON OUR AGENDA.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Urban Transportation Commission REGULAR MEETING on April 2, 2024. ]
SO THAT TAKES US TO OUR FIRST ITEM, UH, APPROVAL OF MINUTES.ITEM NUMBER ONE ON OUR AGENDA.
IT'S ALSO IN THE PACKET FOR THOSE HERE IN PERSON, UH, YOU COULD TAKE A BEAT AND REVIEW THOSE.
I WILL MOVE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER BROOKS.
ANY DISCUSSION AMENDMENTS OF THE MINUTES? ALL RIGHT.
I'LL CALL FOR A VOTE ON THOSE MINUTES.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE, LOOKS LIKE COMMISSIONER ORTIZ JUST, JUST DROPPED INTO THE ZOOM.
I SEE EVERYBODY ELSE PUT HER, IF YOU COULD LET US KNOW YOUR VOTE ON THAT.
ARE YOU THERE? COMMISSIONER ORTIZ? OKAY.
WE'LL JUST CALL HER ABSENT ON THAT VOTE.
WE HAVE QUORUM, SO WE'RE GOOD.
AND YOU DO, OH, I'M GONNA ADD YOU.
THAT IS UNANIMOUS OF THOSE IN ATTENDANCE HERE WITH COMMISSIONER ORTIZ SLIDING IN.
SO WE DO HAVE, UM, TWO DISCUSSION ITEMS. UM, TWO, UH, AND SEVERAL ACTION ITEMS TODAY, COMMISSIONERS.
I DO THINK THIS IS A PRETTY FULL AGENDA FOR US.
SO, UM, JUST LET'S TRY TO ALL CONDUCT OURSELVES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THAT IN MIND, THAT, UH, OF THE TIME THAT WE DO HAVE TODAY.
[2. Update on I35 Cap and Stitch ]
SO WITH THAT, I'LL CALL UP OUR FIRST PRESENTERS.IT'S I 35 CAP ANDIT PRESENTERS, MICHELLE, MARK, SHANNON RILEY, LAUREN RAMIREZ FROM TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS.
YEAH, USUALLY JUST ANY ONE OF THOSE.
UH, MAKE SURE YOU'RE GREEN AND FOR YOUR PRESENTATION, AND WE'LL JUST, UH, TRY TO GET YOU GET THROUGH OUR PRESENTATION.
USUALLY JUST LET YOU GO AND THEN AT THE END WE'LL ASK QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME TODAY.
UM, AGAIN, MY NAME'S MICHELLE MARKS.
I AM A TRANSPORTATION OFFICER WITH TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS, UM, AND I MANAGE OUR STRATEGIC PROJECTS GROUP, UM, ONE OF OUR MOST STRATEGIC PROJECTS AT THE MOMENT BEING THE, UM, I 35 CAP AND STITCH, UH, PROGRAM AND PROJECT.
SO, UM, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME HERE TO BRIEF YOU ALL, UM, ON THE, THE WORK WE'VE CONDUCTED TO DATE AND, UM, PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE, UM, PUBLIC CONVERSATION THAT WE'RE ABOUT TO EMBARK UPON.
UM, SO LOOKING FORWARD TO JUST DOING A LITTLE BIT OF CATCH UP, UM, ABOUT WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, AND, UM, LOOKING AHEAD, UH, TO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WE'LL BE ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY ON, UM, IN THE UPCOMING CALENDAR YEAR.
SO, WITH THAT, I'LL KICK US OFF HERE.
UM, SO I DON'T THINK ANY OF US ARE A STRANGER TO WHAT I 35 LOOKS LIKE TODAY.
UM, IT'S, UM, A PLEASANT MIX OF, UH, CONCRETE BERMS, UH, ON ONE END OF, UH, DOWNTOWN, AND THEN ON THE OTHER END OF DOWNTOWN, UM, THE INVERSE, A CONCRETE CANYON.
SO THIS HAS BEEN A DIVIDER IN OUR COMMUNITY, AS WE KNOW FOR DECADES, UM, A LITERAL PHYSICAL BARRIER.
UM, AND WE'RE REALLY EXCITED, UM, TO HAVE, UM, WHAT REALLY IS A TRANSFORMATIONAL OPPORTUNITY, UM, IN FRONT OF US, UM, WITH TEXT DOTS PROJECT TO LOWER AND WIDEN THE MAIN LANES OF THE FREEWAY.
THIS DOES CREATE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY, UM, TO LEVERAGE THAT WORK, UM, TO CREATE SOME ENHANCEMENTS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, WITH ALL OF OUR CAPPING OPPORTUNITIES, WHICH I'LL WALK THROUGH IN JUST A MOMENT, WE DO HAVE, UM, A CHANCE AS A CITY TO, UM, BASICALLY CREATE ALMOST 30 ACRES OF NEW REAL ESTATE IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR CITY.
SO THIS IS, UM, I MEAN, QUITE LITERALLY A MONUMENTAL, UM, ONCE IN A GENERATION, UM, MOMENT FOR THIS CITY TO LITERALLY CHANGE THE LANDSCAPE OF CENTRAL AUSTIN.
UM, POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF, OF LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES OF FREEWAY TO CAP THE FREEWAY, UM, INCLUDE NOT JUST THE PHYSICAL RECONNECTION, UM, OF EAST AND WEST AUSTIN, UM, THAT WE HAVE, UM, BEEN EXPERIENCING OVER, YOU KNOW, SINCE THE 1950S AND SIXTIES WITH THE ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION OF I 35.
BUT, UM, WITH THIS NEW REAL ESTATE IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR DOWNTOWN, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE, UM, REGIONALLY SIGNIFICANT MARQUEE
[00:05:01]
PUBLIC SPACE, UH, FOR CITYWIDE AND REGIONAL USE SPACES THAT CAN PROVIDE LANDSCAPE AND PARK AMENITIES, AS WELL AS OPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT AND ENHANCE OUR LOCAL BUSINESS CULTURE, OUR LOCAL ARTS AND CULTURE SCENE.UM, AND THEN JUST THE OPPORTUNITY THAT KAS PRESENT TO, UM, ADDRESS LOCALIZED, UH, NOISE, UM, AND, UM, AIR QUALITY CONCERNS AS WELL.
SO THIS IS, UH, THE OVERVIEW MAP WE'VE BEEN SHARING WITH CITY COUNCIL.
IF YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING ALONG, UM, OUR LAST COUPLE VISITS WITH THEM, UM, THE SEGMENTS THAT TXDOT WILL BE LOWERING EXTENDS FROM LADY BIRD LAKE UP TO, UM, APPROXIMATELY TWO 90 EAST IN THE NORTH.
UM, AND THESE LOCATIONS ON THE MAP ARE THOSE, UH, PLACES WHERE TDOT HAS IDENTIFIED, UM, AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE A CAP, UM, OR A STITCH ON TOP OF THE FREEWAY.
UM, AND THEY HAVE SOME VERY SPECIFIC, UM, DESIGN PARAMETERS THAT, UM, DRIVE WHERE THOSE CAPS AND STITCHES ARE POSSIBLE.
UM, I'LL SPEAK TO THAT IN JUST A MOMENT.
BUT THE LOCATIONS IN GREEN ARE, UM, THE CITY FUNDED CAP OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, YOU'LL SEE ONE STITCH OPPORTUNITY DOWN AT THE HOLLY, UM, OVERCROSSING DOWN AT THE RAINY DISTRICT.
UM, AND IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR SCREEN, YOU'LL SEE IN ORANGE SOME POTENTIAL CAPPING OPPORTUNITIES THAT, UM, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IS CURRENTLY EXPLORING.
UM, THOSE CAPS WOULD BE, UM, SEPARATELY FUNDED AND SPONSORED BY THE UNIVERSITY, WHEREAS THOSE IN, IN GREEN AND THE HOLLY STITCH WOULD BE FUNDED BY THE CITY.
UM, AND SO JUST TO GET OUR TERMINOLOGY ON THE SAME PAGE, WHEN WE REFER TO A STITCH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A FREEWAY DECK THAT IS UNDER 300 FEET IN LENGTH, UM, AND THEN A CAP IS ANYTHING THAT'S GONNA BE OVER 300 FEET IN LENGTH.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE THE, THE, THAT THRESHOLD TRIGGERS SOME DIFFERENT ENGINEERING AND FIRE LIFE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS, UM, THAT REALLY IMPACT, UM, COST AND VIABILITY.
SO THAT'S AN IMPORTANT THRESHOLD TO BE AWARE OF.
UM, TXDOT IS, AS PART OF THEIR BASELINE PROJECT PROVIDING, UM, UP TO, UH, 30, NO, ACTUALLY 30 FEET EXACTLY BEHIND CURB OF AN ENHANCED LANDSCAPE AND, UM, ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION AMENITIES.
SO THERE WILL BE SOME ENHANCEMENTS TO THOSE OVER CROSSINGS AS PART OF THE TEXT DOT BASELINE SCOPE OF WORK.
UM, SO SPEAKING TO WHERE CAPS ARE AND ARE NOT POSSIBLE, UM, THE KEY DRIVER FOR CAP LOCATIONS IS REALLY WHERE, UH, TEXT DOT HAS IDENTIFIED THE REQUIRED MINIMUM CLEARANCE FROM THE MAIN LANES OF THE FREEWAY TO ANY ABOVE FREEWAY STRUCTURES.
SO THEY REQUIRE 16 AND A HALF FEET OF VERTICAL CLEARANCE, UM, TO THE BOTTOM OF A DECK OR TO THE BOTTOM OF ANY, UM, VENTILATION FANS OR OTHER EQUIPMENT SUSPENDED FROM THOSE DECKS.
UM, SO THAT REALLY IS THAT, AND THE CONFIGURATION OF THEIR RAMPING, UH, DESIGNS ARE REALLY WHAT'S DRIVING WHERE CAPS ARE AND AREN'T VIABLE.
UM, ANOTHER, UH, IMPORTANT DESIGN, UH, CRITERIA THAT WE'RE SHARING WITH THE PUBLIC IS, IS, YOU KNOW, THE PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS OF WHAT THESE CAPS CAN AND CANNOT SUPPORT STRUCTURALLY.
UM, WHEN LOOKING AT, UH, THE TRADE OFFS BETWEEN, UM, BUILDING HEIGHT, FOR EXAMPLE, AND THE EXTRA COST THAT WOULD GO INTO, UH, BEEFING UP THESE CAP STRUCTURES TO SUPPORT HEAVY BUILDINGS, WE'RE REALLY FINDING THAT IT, IT ONE TO TWO STORY BUILDINGS AT MOST, IS THE SWEET SPOT THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO, UM, HOLD ON TOP OF THESE CAPS.
UM, BUT A REALLY WIDE VARIETY OF, UM, OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO OPEN SPACE AND PARK FEATURES, UM, THAT CAPS LIKE THIS CAN PROVIDE ON TOP.
WE'RE ALSO, UM, DOING A LITTLE BIT OF KIND OF OUTREACH AND EDUCATION WITH THE PUBLIC THIS SUMMER WHEN IT COMES TO KIND OF EXPLAINING THE COMPONENTS OF THESE, UM, CAP STRUCTURES, UM, AND HOW THEY MIGHT BE PHASED OVER TIME.
UM, SO THE, THE CAP DIAGRAM ON YOUR SCREEN HERE IS COLOR CODED, UM, SHOWING IN BLUE WHAT, UM, WE IN TEXTILE ARE REFERRING TO AS THE ROADWAY ELEMENTS.
THESE ARE THE, UH, VERTICAL, UH, STRUCTURAL SUPPORT ELEMENTS, UM, AND OTHER COMPONENTS THAT REALLY HAVE TO BE INTEGRATED INTO TDOT'S BASELINE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.
UM, AND, AND THAT'S JUST BY NATURE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE WAY THEY FIT WITHIN THE RIGHT OF WAY, THEY REALLY HAVE TO BE PART OF THE ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION ITSELF.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE THE HORIZONTAL DECK CAP IN PINK HERE.
[00:10:01]
PROVIDED THAT WE HAVE THOSE STRUCTURAL SUPPORT ELEMENTS IN PLACE, UM, WE DO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO PHASE IN THOSE HORIZONTAL DECK ELEMENTS IN FUTURE.UM, AND THEN LIKEWISE, THE AMENITIES ON TOP OF THE CAP, UM, CAN ALSO BE, UH, PHASED IN IN FUTURE AS FUNDING BECOMES AVAILABLE.
UM, SO SPEAKING OF FUNDING, UM, THIS IS THE APPROXIMATE, UM, COST ESTIMATE TABLE THAT WE'VE BEEN SHARING WITH CITY COUNCIL, UM, OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS.
AND THOSE COSTS ARE BROKEN DOWN BY DESIGN COSTS, UM, BOTH FOR STRUCTURES AND FOR, UM, THE LANDSCAPE DESIGN OF THE SURFACE AMENITIES THEMSELVES.
IN GREEN, YOU'LL SEE THAT, UM, WE HAVE ALREADY COMMITTED TO TDOT, UM, APPROXIMATELY $15 MILLION TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN AND THE ENGINEERING OF THE CAP AND STITCH, UM, ENGINEERING ELEMENTS.
UM, IN BLUE, WE HAVE THE COST OF THOSE ROADWAY ELEMENTS, AND AS MENTIONED, BECAUSE THOSE NEED TO BE INTEGRATED INTO TDOT'S INITIAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PACKAGE, TXDOT IS REQUESTING, UM, A CITY COMMITMENT TO FUND, UH, OUR CHOSEN ROADWAY ELEMENTS BY THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR.
UM, AGAIN, THESE WERE THE ELEMENTS THAT WILL EFFECTIVELY FUTURE PROOF FUTURE DECK PHASING OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, AND THOSE DECK COSTS ARE IN THE PINK, UH, COLUMN HERE, UM, WITH THE AMENITY COSTS, AGAIN, APPROXIMATED, UH, BASED ON SOME OF THE EXPERIENCES OF OUR PEER CITIES.
UM, UH, MOST NOTABLY, UM, OUR, UM, COLLEAGUES UP IN DALLAS WHO CONSTRUCTED CLYDE WARREN PARK AND ARE IN PROCESS OF EXPANSION OF THE SOUTHERN DA DECK, UH, SOUTHERN GATEWAY DECK PARK, UM, HAVE SHARED THEIR PER ACRE COST ESTIMATES FOR AMENITIES AND OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.
SO A LOT OF THESE ESTIMATES ARE BASED ON, UM, THOSE, UH, EXISTING PROJECTS, AND WE'LL BE CONTINUE TO KIND OF SHARPEN OUR PENCIL ALSO ON THESE MOVING FORWARD.
SO, UM, WHAT YOU SEE IN RED HERE, UM, IS THE FUNDING THAT WE HAVE SECURED TO DATE, UM, TO COVER THESE COSTS.
WHEN YOU ADD, UM, ALL THOSE ITEMS IN RED, UM, YOU'LL, UM, THAT, UM, UH, SIGNIFIES THE $105 MILLION INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT THAT WE WERE RECENTLY AWARDED BY U-S-D-O-T, UM, AS WELL AS THE CITY'S $45 MILLION MATCH FOR THAT FEDERAL GRANT.
AND COMBINED THOSE FUNDS WILL, UM, COVER THE COSTS OF BOTH THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE BASIC AMENITIES FOR THE, UM, FIVE SOME ODD ACRES OF CAP FROM CESAR CHAVEZ TO FOURTH STREET.
SO WE'RE MAKING GOOD PROGRESS THERE.
UM, AND, UM, STAFF DID ALSO SUBMIT, UM, ANOTHER GRANT APPLICATION TO U-S-D-O-T JUST YESTERDAY, UM, SEEKING ADDITIONAL FEDERAL FUNDS FOR THESE CAPS.
SO, UH, WORKING HARD TO, UH, PATCH AS MUCH OF THIS FUNDING PUZZLE TOGETHER AS POSSIBLE.
UH, LOOKING AHEAD TO THOSE FUNDING MILESTONES, UM, AS MENTIONED, WE ARE, UM, LOOKING TO COUNCIL TO MAKE SOME DECISIONS ABOUT THE ROADWAY ELEMENTS, UM, THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH AT THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR.
AND THEN WE HAVE A COUPLE OF OPTIONS FOR HOW WE WANNA F UM, PHASE IN THOSE HORIZONTAL DECKS.
UM, IF WE, UH, ANY FUNDING THAT WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY FOR DECKS BY 2027 CAN BE ROLLED INTO TX DOT'S CONSTRUCTION, UH, PROJECT.
UM, AND THEN LIKEWISE, ANY FUNDING THAT WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY BY 2032, UM, CAN GET FUNNELED INTO, UM, ADDITIONAL SERVICES CHANGE ORDER FOR TDOT'S CONTRACTOR TO CONSTRUCT, UM, AT THE TAIL END OF THAT PROJECT IN, IN 32.
AFTER THAT MOMENT, TDOT IS ASKING FOR, UM, A 10 YEAR MORATORIUM ON ANY CHANGES TO, UM, THE FREEWAY CORRIDOR AFTER SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION.
SO OUR NEXT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY WOULD BE IN 2042.
SO, STEPPING ASIDE AND LOOKING AT, UM, OUR CURRENT WORK, KNOWING ALL OF THIS KIND OF, UH, THE FUNDING PUZZLE AND THE TECHNICAL ENGINEERING WORK THAT'S HAPPENING IN THE BACKGROUND, UM, WE ARE COMING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY THIS YEAR TO, UM, TALK ABOUT, UH, AND PUT A FINER POINT ON WHAT AUSTIN'S VISION IS FOR THESE POTENTIAL CAPS AND STITCHES.
UM, SO THE VISION PLAN WILL BE, UM, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO DOCUMENT THE COMMUNITY'S, UM, DESIRED OUTCOMES FOR CAPS AND STITCHES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
WHAT DO WE WANNA SEE OUTTA THIS PROJECT? WHAT'S OUR VISION? WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? WHAT ARE OUR GOALS THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH CAP AND STITCH IN AUSTIN? UM, AND HOW MIGHT THOSE
[00:15:01]
VISION AND GOALS TRANSLATE INTO SOME PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUAL IDEAS FOR THE TYPES OF PROGRAMS AND AMENITIES THAT COULD GO ON TOP? UM, AND WE HAVE ALREADY KICKED OFF THIS CONVERSATION.WE DID HAVE AN INITIAL VISIONING, UM, OPEN HOUSE BACK IN 2022, UM, IN THE FALL THAT SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE ATTENDED, UM, WHERE WE ASKED EXACTLY THAT OF, OF ATTENDEES AND RESIDENTS, WHAT, UM, WHAT IS OUR VISION FOR THIS SPACE? WHAT, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THIS EFFORT ACCOMPLISH FOR OUR COMMUNITY? UM, SO WE TOOK THAT INITIAL INPUT FROM 2022, WORKED WITH, UM, A COMMUNITY COMMITTEE, UM, OVER THE, UH, FOLLOWING SIX MONTHS.
UM, AND THAT COMMITTEE CRAFTED THE PRELIMINARY VISION STATEMENT AND SIX PRELIMINARY GOALS THAT YOU'LL SEE ON THE SCREEN HERE.
UM, WE'LL BE VETTING AND CONFIRMING THIS VISION AND GOALS WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS THIS SUMMER.
UM, AND THESE VISION GOALS, THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, I'M A PLANNER, SO I'M A BIG FAN OF GOALS, UM, BUT
BUT THESE REALLY ARE VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE ALL OF THE DESIGN DECISIONS THAT WE MAKE, THE FUNDING DECISIONS THAT WE MAKE, REALLY NEED TO BE IMPLEMENTING EACH OF THESE, UM, SIX GOALS.
SO THESE WILL BE REALLY THE, THE FOUNDATION THAT WILL BE BUILDING OUR DESIGN WORK, UH, MOVING FORWARD OVER THE NEXT, YOU KNOW, EIGHT TO 10 YEARS.
SO, UM, IN MAY, ON MAY 18TH, WE'LL BE HOLDING OUR FIRST PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE, UM, ONE, ONE OF THE KEY, UH, PIECES OF, UH, FEEDBACK AT THAT OPEN HOUSE.
WE'LL BE CONFIRMING THAT VISION AND GOALS.
UM, DRAFT VISION AND GOALS WILL ALSO BE BRINGING, UM, SOME PRELIMINARY ILLUSTRATIONS OF, UH, THE TYPES OF AMENITIES THAT COULD BE PROVIDED ON TOP OF CAPS, UM, THAT IS, UH, REFLECTIVE OF THOSE VISION AND GOALS.
UM, AND THOSE WILL BE REALLY USED AS, UM, A SPARK FOR CONVERSATION, UH, WITH OPEN HOUSE ATTENDEES.
UM, WE'LL BE ASKING FOLKS FOR THEIR INPUT ON THE TYPES OF AMENITIES, UH, THAT AUSTINITES WOULD LIKE TO SEE ON TOP OF ALL OF THE VARIOUS CAPPING OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, THEN, UM, SO WE'LL HAVE THE OPEN HOUSE MAY 18TH.
I'LL PROVIDE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT THAT IN A MOMENT.
THERE WILL ALSO BE AN ONLINE, UM, OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK VIA SURVEY FOR, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO CAN'T MAKE IT IN PERSON TO THE MAY 18TH EVENT.
THEN THROUGH JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST THE SUMMER MONTHS, WE'LL BE SETTING UP, UM, REALLY JUST BACK TO BACK, UH, MEETINGS WITH STAKEHOLDERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS, BUSINESS GROUPS, UM, WHAT HAVE YOU, UM, ONE AFTER THE OTHER IN THE SUMMER, UM, TO GO OUT AND ASK THE SAME QUESTIONS AND TO CONTINUE TO GET, UM, SOME SPECIFIC FEEDBACK AND INPUT FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS ABOUT, UM, WHAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE THESE CAPS PROVIDE AND ACCOMPLISH.
THEN IN SEPTEMBER, UM, WE'LL BE COMING BACK WITH A SECOND PUBLIC EVENT TO SHARE WHAT WE HEARD, UM, ALL SUMMER AND SPRING, AND TO BRING, UM, REFINED CONCEPTS, UH, TO THE COMMUNITY FOR, UM, VETTING AND INPUT.
AND THAT'S AN ADVANCE OF TAKING, UM, THESE VISION CONCEPTS TO CITY COUNCIL IN OCTOBER, UM, FOR THEIR CONSIDERATION.
NOW, THIS IS ALL REALLY IMPORTANT AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT OF TIME BECAUSE THE TECHNICAL WORK HAPPENING IN THE BACKGROUND IS, UM, THE CITY, UM, AND THE CITY DESIGN TEAM IS WORKING REALLY CLOSELY WITH TXDOT ON THAT 30% STRUCTURAL DESIGN AND ENGINEERING WORK.
AND IN ORDER TO MOVE THAT FORWARD, WE NEED TO HAVE SOME SORT OF, UM, INKLING OF THE TYPES OF PUBLIC FEATURES THAT WE WANNA HAVE ON TOP SO THAT WE CAN DESIGN THE STRUCTURAL LOADING, UM, ADEQUATELY TO HOLD THE STUFF THAT WE EVENTUALLY WANNA HOLD.
UM, SO IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, GO MICRO SCALE AT THIS POINT AND START TO DO KIND OF DETAILED DESIGN WORK, BUT AT THE CONCEPTUAL LEVEL, IF WE KNOW, YES, THE COMMUNITY WANTS TO SEE, YOU KNOW, SOME BUILDINGS, NO, THE COMMUNITY'S NOT INTERESTED IN, YOU KNOW, BUILDINGS ALL OVER THE CAP, OR, WE DEFINITELY WANNA, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE SOME SORT OF, YOU KNOW, SPLASH PAD OR COMMUNITY IMMUNITY.
THAT'S THE TYPE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION THAT WE NEED NOW TO FEED INTO THAT, UM, ENGINEERING PHASE THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
SO FOR EACH, UM, OF THE CAP OPPORTUNITIES THAT I SHOWED YOU, WE WILL BE ASKING, UM, PARTICIPANTS TO, TO TELL US THE, THE TYPES OF FEATURES THAT, UM, ARE APPROPRIATE FOR THAT PARTICULAR CAP
[00:20:01]
LOCATION.UM, AND WE'LL BE GOING CAP BY CAP WITH THESE QUESTIONS BECAUSE WE REALIZE THAT THERE MAY BE, UM, A DIFFERENT ANSWER FOR, YOU KNOW, UM, THE CAP AT 38TH AND, AND AIRPORT.
UM, THEN MIGHT, THEN WE MIGHT HEAR FOR THE CAP, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN FIFTH AND SIXTH STREET DOWNTOWN, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, SO WE'LL HAVE A LIST OF THE TYPES OF AMENITIES THAT COULD BE PROVIDED, ASK FOLKS TO PRIORITIZE, CLARIFY THAT, YOU KNOW, BASELINE AMENITIES LIKE TREES AND SHADE AND WALKING AND BIKING PATHS.
THAT'S, THAT'S ASSUMED EVERYWHERE.
WE KNOW THAT THAT'S, UM, A CRITICAL BASELINE COMPONENT.
UM, WE'LL ALSO BE ASKING FOLKS TO TELL US, UM, IF YOU WANNA SEE BUILDINGS, HOW MUCH BUILDINGS, UH, DO YOU PREFER MORE OPEN SPACE, FOR EXAMPLE? UM, SO THESE ARE THE TYPES OF INPUTS, UM, THAT WE'LL COLLECT.
NOW, UM, WE'RE ALSO, UH, PARTNERING WITH THE AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, UM, WHO WILL ALSO BE PRESENT AT THE OPEN HOUSE, UM, TO TALK ABOUT THE WORK THEY'RE LEADING TO DEVELOP, UM, WHAT THEY'RE CALLING AN EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY.
UM, THIS IS LOOKING AT NOT JUST, UH, WHAT SORT OF FEATURES WE NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT ON CAPS, BUT WHAT SORT OF, KIND OF PROGRAMMATIC AND POLICY TOOLS DO WE NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT, UM, IN CAP ADJACENT AREAS OF THE CITY TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS REALLY IS A TRUE AMENITY FOR RESIDENTS THAT WE'RE NOT UNINTENTIONALLY AGGRAVATING DISPLACEMENT PRESSURES, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, THAT WE ARE SUPPORTING, UM, OUR SMALL BUSINESS COMMUNITY, UM, AND CREATING A TRUE AMENITY FOR OUR RESIDENTS.
UM, SO LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING THEM AS PART OF THAT DISCUSSION.
AND, UM, THE OPEN HOUSE DETAILS.
UM, SO MAY 18TH, AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, THE HIGHLAND CAMPUS, UM, IT'LL BE FROM 10 TO TWO, UM, ON THAT SATURDAY.
UM, AND, UM, PLENTY OF, UH, OPPORTUNITIES TO TRAVEL THERE, UM, BY RAIL.
UM, WE'LL ALSO HAVE PLENTY OF BIKE PARKING, UM, LOTS OF WAY FINDING SIGNAGE.
UM, SO ANY ASSISTANCE YOU'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE AND, UM, HELPING SPREAD THE WORD, UM, ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR INPUT, UM, WOULD BE FANTASTIC.
AND, UM, AS I SAID, THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF OUR, UM, COMMUNITY DISCUSSION THIS SUMMER.
WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING AS MUCH INPUT AS WE CAN AT THIS POINT IN OUR PROCESS SO THAT WHEN WE COME BACK IN SEPTEMBER, UM, AND SHOW FOLKS WHAT WE'VE HEARD, UM, AND HOW THAT COULD LOOK FOR CAP CONCEPTS.
UM, REALLY HOPING TO SEE SOME, SOME HEAD NODS AT THAT POINT IN OUR PROCESS.
UM, SO THE MORE WE HEAR FROM FOLKS, UM, AT, AT THIS KIND OF MAY OPPORTUNITY, THE BETTER.
SO WITH THAT, UM, I'M HAPPY TO, UM, ENTERTAIN ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE FOR ME.
UM, I'M GONNA JUST TAKE MY CHAIR'S PRIVILEGE AND START, START KICK US OFF WITH A COUPLE QUESTIONS HERE.
AND, AND I'M GONNA SAY HERE, IT'S, IT'S BEEN HARD FOR THIS BODY.
I THINK I'VE BEEN ON THIS BODY WITH ALMOST COMPLETE TURNOVER NOW, UM, FROM THE TIME I STARTED ON IT, AND ALSO FOR MYSELF TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO ENGAGE ON 35, RIGHT? BECAUSE IT'S HARD TO DENY THAT WHAT'S PROPOSED WOULDN'T PROVIDE SOME IMPROVEMENTS ON WHAT EXISTS TODAY, YET I PERSONALLY HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL BELIEF THAT MULTI-LANE, URBAN, MULTI-LANE FREEWAYS DO NOT BELONG IN DOWNTOWN URBAN AREAS.
SO I, I STRUGGLE WITH HOW TO ENGAGE, AND WE'VE DONE A LOT OF THINGS.
WE'VE PASSED, WE PASSED AT ONE POINT A SERIES OF THREE REALLY ESCALATING RESOLUTIONS FOR THOSE WHO JOINED OUR BODY LATER, UM, ON, ON I 35 PLANS.
AND, UM, PRETTY MUCH THOSE WERE NOT NECESSARILY HEATED.
SO NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT THE PLANS THAT WE HAVE AND FIGURING OUT WHAT DO WE DO AND HOW DO WE ENGAGE GIVEN THE PLANS THAT WE HAVE AND HOW THEY'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD.
SO I HOPE THAT'S OKAY, BECAUSE I THINK THAT HAS HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR THIS BODY IS REALLY HELPFUL.
UM, BUT, UM, AND ALSO JUST TO STATE MY POSITION PRETTY CLEARLY, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, SO ONE OF MY QUESTIONS IS THE MAP OF THE CAPS.
SO I UNDERSTAND ANYTHING THAT'S NOT IN GREEN, BLUE, OR ORANGE, THOSE AREAS HAVE NO OPPORTUNITY FOR CAPPING AT ALL BECAUSE THOSE ARE AREAS WHERE WE'RE EXPERIENCING RAMPING.
IS THAT CORRECT? SO BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, 38TH AND A HALF AND UT AND THEN BETWEEN UT AND 11TH AND 12TH, AGAIN, BETWEEN 12TH AND SEVENTH MM-HMM.
IT REALLY IS TEXT DOTS, UH, DESIGN FOR THEIR CAPEX PROJECT THAT'S DRIVING WHERE CAPS CAN AND CANNOT BE.
WHICH I DON'T AGREE WITH THOSE THAT, BUT THAT IS WHERE WE ARE.
SO, UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT.
SO, UM, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAD WAS SORT OF ABOUT THE COSTS AND THE PRIORITIZATION OF CAPS.
[00:25:01]
I CAN IMAGINE SOME REASONS WHY, BUT I'D BE CURIOUS FOR YOU TO TELL ME WHY.SO, YOU KNOW THAT THE, THE DEDICATED FUNDING, UM, THROUGH THE 105 MILLION NEIGHBORHOOD ACCESS AND EQUITY FEDERAL GRANT HAS, UH, BEEN DEDICATED TO BASICALLY, IF I UNDERSTOOD YOU CORRECTLY, FULLY FUNDING THE CAESAR CHAVEZ TO FOURTH STREET SECTION.
SO THAT SECTION IS CONFIRMED TO BE FUNDED.
AND I, I ASSUME YOU TARGETED THE GRANT THERE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
MAYBE YOU WANNA SHARE THOSE WITH US, BUT I'M CURIOUS ABOUT HOW YOU, HOW THE STAFF WOULD PRIORITIZE.
DO YOU HAVE A PRIORITIZATION MATRIX FOR THESE CAPS AT THIS TIME? UM, THE ANSWER TO YOUR LAST QUESTION IS NO, WE HAVE NOT STARTED TO HAVE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT PRIORITY BETWEEN ONE CAP AND THE NEXT.
UM, RIGHT NOW OUR PRINCIPAL FOCUS IS, UH, HAS BEEN, UM, IDENTIFYING A FUNDING SOURCE FOR THE $144 MILLION, UM, DUE TO TXDOT AT THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR FOR ROADWAY ELEMENTS.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE FUNDING THOSE ELEMENTS EFFECTIVELY, FUTURE PROOFS EVERYTHING, SO THAT FUTURE PHASES ARE POSSIBLE EVERYWHERE.
UM, IF WE'RE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY THAT FULL FUNDING BY THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR, THEN YES, WE WOULD NEED TO ENGAGE, UH, COUNCIL WOULD NEED TO ENGAGE IN A PRIORITIZATION DECISION THAT THAT'S HELPFUL.
THE GRANT APPLICATION THAT YOU MENTIONED THAT WAS SUBMITTED YESTERDAY, ARE YOU ABLE TO SHARE DETAILS OF WHAT THAT THAT MONEY IS PROPOSED TO FUND? SURE.
I CAN, UM, PERHAPS START BY, UM, ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION ABOUT THE CESAR CHAVEZ GRANT, UM, AND PROVIDE A LITTLE BACKGROUND THERE.
AND THEN GO TO THAT, A QUESTION IF THAT WORKS.
UM, THE, UM, SO THAT WAS A GRANT, UM, TO THE U-S-D-O-T RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES PROGRAM, NEIGHBORHOOD ACCESS AND EQUITY GRANT.
UM, THE REASON, UM, THE CESAR CHAVEZ, THE FOURTH CAP WAS PURSUED WAS PRO WAS A HUNDRED PERCENT DRIVEN BY THE GRANTS CRITERIA ITSELF.
UM, WE REALLY NEEDED TO IDENTIFY A LOCATION, UM, THAT WAS ADJACENT TO THE REQUIRED CENSUS TRACKS.
UM, IT HAD A VERY STRONG FOCUS ON EQUITY, UM, OF COURSE.
AND, UM, BECAUSE OF THE MOBILITY COM, UM, IMPROVEMENTS THAT THAT PARTICULAR CAP PROVIDES, IT WAS JUST, UH, IT HIT THE SWEET SPOT FOR THAT GRANTS CRITERIA.
UM, YOU'LL, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT, UM, ONE OF THE FEATURES OF THAT PARTICULAR CAP IS IT PROVIDES A NEW CONNECTION AT THIRD STREET THAT WILL BE, UM, ENTIRELY, UH, PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE, UM, ONLY, UM, CROSSING THIRD STREET.
SO, UM, AND, AND THIS NEW THIRD STREET CROSSING, UM, IS GONNA ENABLE PEOPLE TO TRAVEL EAST WEST ACROSS I 35 WITHOUT HAVING TO NAVIGATE A SINGLE FRONTAGE ROAD.
SO IT'S A HUGE, HUGE OPPORTUNITY.
UM, SO, UM, YOUR NEXT QUESTION.
WE RECENTLY, UM, RECENTLY YESTERDAY, UM, SUBMITTED A GRANT TO, UM, US DOT'S, UM, MPDG PROGRAM, AND YOU'RE GONNA TEST ME ON MY ACRONYMS HERE, BUT MULTIMODAL DISCRETIONARY MP, UH, MULTIMODAL PROJECT, DISCRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM.
UM, SO IT'S A BUNDLING OF, UH, DOT'S, UH, MEGAN INFRA PROGRAM.
VERY, VERY TARGETED GRANT CRITERIA REGARDING WHAT THEY WILL AND WON'T FUND AND WHAT'S COMPETITIVE AND NOT COMPETITIVE.
IN FACT, THIS GRANT REQUIRED, UM, AN ANALYTICAL, UM, QUANTITATIVE BENEFITS COST ANALYSIS USING DOT FORMULAS.
UM, SO IT'S BE PRETTY CLEAR, UM, WHICH CAPS ARE GONNA GET THE REQUIRED, UH, BENEFIT COST RATIO IN WHICH OR NOT.
SO INCLUDED IN THAT, UM, FUNDING REQUEST, UM, IS INFRASTRUCTURE AND AMENITY FUNDING FOR THE HOLLY STITCH, THE FOURTH TO SEVENTH STREET CAPS AND THE 11TH AND 12TH STREET CAPS.
UM, THE CAPS BETWEEN 38TH AND AIRPORT, UM, DID NOT HAVE THE REQUIRED COST RATIOS FROM U-S-D-O-T TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT GRANT.
CAN I ASK A FOLLOW UP THERE? YES.
UM, IS THERE A MATCH REQUIRED FROM THE CITY FOR THAT GRANT? YES.
UH, 40% MATCH
UM, THE PIECE THAT I, THE FUNDING PIECE THAT I HAVE, UM, NOT BRIEFED YOU ON IN TODAY'S SLIDE DECK IS, UM, COUNCIL'S RECENT AUTHORIZATION TO PURSUE A LOAN
[00:30:01]
FROM THE TEXAS STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.UM, COUNCIL DID, UM, AUTHORIZE, UM, AN APPLICATION IN AN AMOUNT UP TO, UM, A HUNDRED AND I THINK $91 MILLION.
UM, THAT WOULD BE A LOAN FROM THE STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.
AND REPAYMENTS FROM THAT LOAN WOULD JUST BE, UM, ABSORBED INTO THE CITY'S REGULAR DEBT PAYMENT, UM, LINE ITEM.
UM, OUR INTENTION WITH THE MPDG GRANT WOULD, IS THAT, UM, THE, THE STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK LOAN WOULD FUND THE CITY MATCH.
SO THAT'S ALL EXTREMELY HELPFUL.
I HAVE, UM, TWO OTHER QUESTIONS.
I THINK SINCE WE'RE IN THE HOW TO PAY, I'M GONNA TAKE THIS ONE FIRST AND THEN I'M GONNA ASK MY SECOND QUESTION AND LET OTHER PEOPLE GO.
BUT, UM, SO THE MONEY THAT'S DUE AT THE END OF THE YEAR, IS IT, IS IT THE CASE THAT THE MONEY IS DUE ITSELF OR A, A COMMITMENT TO THE MONEY? IT'S A COMMITMENT TO FUND.
AND, UM, AT, SO WE'VE ALREADY HEARD A LOT ABOUT THE GRANTS, ABOUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.
UM, IS THERE A DISCUSSION OF BONDS, BUDGETING? WHAT ARE THE OTHER PROPOSALS OF HOW THAT WOULD BE FUNDED BEYOND THESE OPPORTUNITIES WE'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED? YEAH, SO WE'RE WORKING REALLY CLOSELY WITH OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES, UM, FOLKS, UM, TO PUT THAT FUNDING PACKAGE TOGETHER.
AND, UM, I MEAN, FRANKLY, EVERYTHING'S IN PLAY RIGHT NOW.
UM, I THINK WE'LL BE IN A POSITION REALLY SOON TO SEE HOW ALL OF OUR GRANT REQUESTS, SAY LOAN REQUESTS KIND OF PAN OUT.
UM, AND WE'LL HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THAT REMAINING GAP REALLY SOON.
UM, AND THEN I THINK THAT'LL BE THE MOMENT WHEN, UM, FINANCIAL SERVICES WILL, UM, HELP US PUT TOGETHER PROPOSED PATHWAYS TO CLOSE THE GAP.
YEAH, IT MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME TO STATE MY PERSONAL OPINION THAT THERE'S NO REASON THAT TECH DOTS SHOULDN'T JUST DO ALL OF THIS.
UM, BUT UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE POLICIES THAT AREN'T, UM, FOSTERING THAT, AND SO THEY'RE, UH, KIND OF HITTING UP OUR CITIES FOR THIS.
SO, UM, ANYWAY, UH, LAST QUESTION.
SO I, I AND YOU, THIS IS OUT MAYBE OUTSIDE YOUR AREA, BUT YOU MAY HAVE SOME INFORMATION.
I'VE HEARD A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THE UT CAPS THAT UT COULD CONSIDER OR FUND.
UM, YOU KNOW, IS UT COMMITTED TO THOSE? LIKE WHAT'S THEIR LEVEL OF, UH, LIKELIHOOD OF HAPPENING THERE? YEAH, GREAT QUESTION.
UM, WE ARE, THEY ARE LOOKING AT THIS SERIOUSLY.
UM, THEY HAVE THE SAME FUNDING TIMELINES AND DECISION TIMELINES AS THE CITY DOES.
UM, I KNOW THEY ARE IN CONVERSATION WITH TEXTILE, AND WE ACTUALLY ARE COORDINATING WITH THEM ON A REGULAR BASIS.
SO I KNOW THEY ARE LOOKING AT WHAT IS POSSIBLE, UM, AND FEASIBLE AND DOING THEIR OWN COST BENEFIT CALCULATION RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT SAME AS US, IF THEY WANNA FIND ROADWAY ELEMENTS, THEY NEED TO, UM, SECURE THE FUNDING BY THE END OF THE YEAR AS WELL.
UM, OTHER COMMISSIONERS THAT MAY HAVE QUESTIONS, UH, I'LL GO WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER KEMAN.
UM, SO HAVE YOU, I GUESS THIS IS, UH, PARTIALLY ABOUT FUNDING AND PARTIALLY ABOUT THE AMENITIES FOR EACH OF THESE.
WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE PREFERRED AMENITIES WHEN YOU'RE GOING OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY.
IS THIS LIKE A SAMPLE LIST THAT YOU WOULD GIVE 'EM AND SAY, LOOK AT THIS.
AND I THINK WE'RE GONNA GET A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT SAY, OH, THAT SOUNDS GREAT, BUT I DON'T REALLY THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT MAKES SENSE OVER A HIGHWAY AND, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE PRIORITIES HERE.
UM, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OR COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL NARRATIVES AND EQUITY AND INCLUSIVITY.
LIKE, I THINK CONNECTING IS THE EQUITY, BUT A LOT OF THESE, TO ME, I THINK IT WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHEN WE GO INTO THE COMMUNITY AND PRESENT 'EM WITH OPTIONS IS THAT WE'RE OVER A HIGHWAY.
IT'S, IT'S NOT OPEN SPACE, IT'S NOT NATURAL.
IT'S NOT GONNA BE A GREAT PLACE TO BE BREATHING AT A BUNCH OF FUMES WHILE YOU'RE ON A SPORTS COURT AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
UM, AND ABOUT FUNDING, UM, HAVE YOU THOUGHT AT ALL ABOUT JUST, YOU KNOW, LETTING A LITTLE BIT OF MARKET WORK HAPPEN HERE AND, AND MAYBE LEASING THE LAND ON TOP FOR SOME PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT, OR, UH, EVEN I DOUBT THE CITY WOULD WANNA SELL ANY OF THIS LAND FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT OR USING THE TAX INCREMENT FINANCING MECHANISM TO MAKE ANY OF THIS HAPPEN? BECAUSE UNLIKE SOME OF THESE FEATURES, THERE IS THE OPPORTUNITY, AND I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S A DROP IN THE BUCKET OR SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT MORE SUBSTANTIAL FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT AND THE LEVERAGE OF PRIVATE FUNDING HERE.
UM, I'LL, UM, ADDRESS YOUR LAST QUESTION FIRST.
UM, YES, IS THE SHORT ANSWER
[00:35:01]
WE, WE ARE FINDING THAT, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS MIGHT, THERE MIGHT NOT BE AS MUCH OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE ON CAP AS THERE MIGHT BE AN ON CAP ADJACENT OPPORTUNITY SITES, AND THAT'S BECAUSE WE ARE GONNA BE LIMITED TO TWO STORIES MAX.SO THERE'S NOT A TON OF, UM, PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL.
HOWEVER, WE ARE COGNIZANT THAT, YOU KNOW, ANY BUILDINGS OR EVEN, YOU KNOW, ANY SPACE FOR FESTIVALS OR WHAT HAVE YOU, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL REVENUE GENERATING OPPORTUNITIES, UM, LEASEABLE SPACE, UM, THAT COULD HELP OFFSET ONGOING MAINTENANCE COSTS, FOR EXAMPLE.
AND SO WE'RE DEFINITELY, UM, STAYING COGNIZANT OF, UM, FUNDING IMPLICATIONS, FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS, YOU KNOW, 10, 20 YEARS FROM NOW AS WE'RE DOING OUR PROGRAMMATIC, HAVING THOSE PROGRAMMATIC DISCUSSIONS TODAY.
UM, IN REGARDS TO, SO YES, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ARE, ARE ON THE TABLE AND WILL, UM, HAVE BEEN KIND OF BROUGHT UP BY FINANCIAL SERVICES TEAM AS ONE POTENTIAL TOOL IN OUR TOOL BELT.
UM, I, UM, LOOKING AT, UM, TIF DISTRICTS, UM, PARTICULARLY, UM, YOU KNOW, DOWNTOWN IS RELATIVELY BUILT OUT IN THE SURROUNDING CONTEXT, BUT PARTICULARLY UP NORTH THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY SITES UP THERE THAT, UM, I THINK MERIT SOME, UM, EVALUATION.
UM, SO WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THAT AS A POTENTIAL TOOL AS WELL.
AND ALSO, LIKE, EVEN IN THE AREAS THAT ARE PRETTY BUILT OUT DOWNTOWN, I THINK THAT WHEN THEY GO FROM BEING HIGHWAY ADJACENT TO CAP ADJACENT, YOU'RE GONNA SEE LIKE A PRETTY PROBABLY LARGE INCREASE IN LAND VALUE THERE.
SO EVEN ON A CURRENTLY BUILT OUT THING, THE PROPERTY TAX, YOU KNOW, REVENUE WOULD LIKELY GO WAY UP EVEN ON SOMEWHERE THAT IT'S ALL, THAT'S JUST MY OPINION.
SO I'M NOT, I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT NECESSARILY WORKS.
UM, BUT LIKE, I HOPE THAT THAT'S ALSO PART OF THE DISCUSSION.
UM, DEFINITELY, UM, DEFINITELY PART OF THE DISCUSSION, THOSE FRONTAGE CONDITIONS FOR THOSE PARCELS WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT, WON'T THEY? YEAH.
UM, AND THEN YOUR, UM, FIRST QUESTION, UM, ABOUT THE TYPES OF AMENITIES THAT ARE PRACTICAL OR VIABLE ON TOP OF CAPS AND, UM, LOCALIZED AIR QUALITY QUESTIONS.
UM, ALL OF THE LISTS OF POTENTIAL AMENITIES TO SPARK IDEAS, UM, ARE VIABLE, UM, PHYSICALLY ON TOP OF A CAP.
UM, AND WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT, UM, PRECEDENTS IN OUR PEER CITIES IN SEATTLE AND, UH, DENVER AND BOSTON AND DALLAS.
UM, SO ALL THESE USES ARE POSSIBLE.
UM, WE WE'RE CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, SENSITIVE AND AWARE AND, UM, OF THE QUESTION RIGHTFULLY SO, THAT PEOPLE ARE ASKING WHAT IS, YOU KNOW, IS, YOU KNOW, SENDING MY KIDS TO PLAY ON A CAP ON TOP OF A FREEWAY.
IS THIS A GOOD IDEA? SHOULD I BE CONCERNED? UM, SO WE DID RECEIVE A PLANNING GRANT FROM, UM, U-S-D-O-T RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES, UM, TO LOOK AT, UM, NOT JUST, UH, TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIONS TO, FROM ACROSS THE CAPS, BUT ALSO TO LOOK AT SOME OF THESE LOCALIZED, UM, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE QUESTIONS.
UM, SO TO WHAT DEGREE, UM, DO CAPS IMPROVE LOCALIZED AIR QUALITY, UM, AS OPPOSED TO AN OPEN FREEWAY? DOES THAT CHANGE, DO AIR QUALITY PROJECTIONS, UM, CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CAP AT THE EDGE OF THE CAP? TO WHAT DEGREE DOES, UM, DO DESIGN TOOLS LIKE BIOFILTRATION, UM, IMPROVE AND MITIGATE, UM, FOR THOSE QUESTIONS? UM, SO WE'LL BE MODELING ALL OF THAT, UM, AND TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AND GETTING SOME QUANTITATIVE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS.
CAN I ASK A, JUST A QUICK FOLLOW UP TO THAT.
SO TO ME, WHEN I THINK ABOUT PEOPLE ACCESSING AMENITIES THAT ARE ON A CAP, THE BIGGEST BARRIER ONCE THE CAP IS THERE SEEMS TO BE THE ACCESS ROADS, IF, IF WE'RE TREATING THEM AS ACCESS ROADS VERSUS URBAN BOULEVARD.
SO I MEAN, I WOULD, I KNOW THAT TECH TXDOT HAS A CERTAIN SET OF IDEAS ABOUT WHAT ACCESS ROADS NEED TO BE, YOU KNOW, MOST STATES DON'T HAVE ACCESS ROADS.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT AN ACCESS ROAD WAS TILL I MOVED TO TEXAS
SO, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT SOMETHING THAT CAME DOWN ON THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, UM, WITH HENRY FORD OR SOMETHING.
UH, YOU KNOW, EVEN IN CAR CULTURE, SOME PLACES DON'T HAVE ACCESS ROADS.
I JUST LIKE TO STATE THAT INTO THE RECORD TEXANS.
UM, ANYWAY, BUT, UM, SO MY QUESTION WITH THAT IS THAT LIKE, IF I'M THEORETICALLY GONNA SEND MY KID TO PLAY IN A PARK ON A CAP, MY QUESTION IS DO THEY HAVE TO CROSS A 55 3 LANES OF 55 MILE
[00:40:01]
AN HOUR FOR TRAFFIC TO GET THERE? AND I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE QUESTION THAT I HAVE AND WHAT, WHAT PROGRESS YOU'VE MADE WORKING WITH TDOT TO MAKE THEM MORE LIKE SAFE URBAN BOULEVARDS THAN OUR TRADITIONAL TEXAS ACCESS ROADS.AND THAT CONVERSATION AND THAT COORDINATION BETWEEN THE CITY AND TXDOT IS ONGOING.
UM, AND WE, UM, EXPECT, UH, 30% DESIGN FOR THE CENTRAL SEGMENT FROM TXDOT LATER THIS YEAR.
SO WE'LL GET A CLOSER LOOK AT, UM, HOW THAT DESIGN IS PANNING OUT.
UM, BUT, UM, WE ARE WORKING VERY CLOSELY TO MAKE SURE LIKE WHERE THOSE DUAL DIRECTION ACCESS ROADS ARE COUPLED INTO THE BOULEVARD TREATMENT, UM, ALONG THE DOWNTOWN SEGMENT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE AT THE CITYSIDE ARE LOOKING VERY CLOSELY AT SIGNAL TIMING RIGHT? TO KIND OF METER TRAFFIC SPEEDS, UM, MAKING SURE, UM, WE HAVE, UM, SAFE PEDESTRIAN PHASING STRATEGIES THAT, UM, WE HAVE, UH, REALLY GOOD OPERATIONAL TREATMENTS FOR THOSE INTERSECTIONS ON THE EAST SIDE, UM, IN THE DOWNTOWN SEGMENT.
IT'LL BE QUITE LOVELY EXPERIENCE GETTING TO THE CAT BECAUSE THE FRONTAGE ROADS WILL BE COUPLED ON THE WEST SIDE AND THERE WON'T, WON'T BE ANY FRONTAGE ROAD CROSSING, UM, ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE FREEWAY.
UM, SO, UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO KIND OF FINE TUNE THOSE DETAILS WITH TXDOT, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
I DEFINITELY THINK THAT THIS BODY, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD BE REALLY, REALLY INTERESTED IN HEARING MORE ABOUT AS THOSE PLANS DEVELOP.
I KNOW THAT THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA BE FOCUSED ON.
I'M SORRY, I NEED TO GO TO OTHER PEOPLE'S QUESTIONS.
AND I DO WANNA ECHO WHAT CHAIR SUMMER SAID ABOUT, UM, PRIORITIZING WHICH CAPS RIGHT.
WE'RE, WE'RE GOING FORWARD WITH.
I THINK THAT'S, UM, IMPORTANT.
UM, I'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING CRUEL ABOUT THE, THE BONE THAT TXDOT THREW US IS THAT WE CAN PAY TO FIX THE PROBLEMS THAT THEY CREATED IN THE FIRST PLACE.
UM, AND I GET THAT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM, BUT, UH, I DO WORRY THAT WE'RE PUTTING OURSELVES IN A FINANCIAL SITUATION, PERHAPS WE SHOULDN'T BE GOING ON.
AND I THINK THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE CAN HAVE FOLKS LIKE TXDOT CAMPO, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHO ARE LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SCAR IN OUR CITY PAY FOR SOME OF THIS.
AND I'M REALLY GLAD TO SEE YOU GUYS ARE GOING FORWARD WITH THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT THE FUNDING MATRIX, YOU GUYS ALL, UH, YOU GUYS PROPOSED TO CITY COUNCIL IN THAT WORK SESSION, UM, KIND OF HAD ROUGH FIGURES.
UM, TIFF, THE TIFF DISTRICTS WERE, WERE A BIG PART OF IT.
SO I KIND OF WANT TO DRILL DOWN ON THAT.
UM, SO DO WE NEED TO HAVE BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TIFF FOR THE TIFF TO WORK, OR CAN WE LOOP IN, YOU KNOW, ADJACENT PROPERTIES? I'M THINKING, YOU KNOW, THE FIESTA MART OR HANCOCK CENTER MM-HMM.
SO WE CAN LOOP THOSE IN AND WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO HAVE BUILDINGS ON TOP OF THEM ON THE CAPS.
UM, I, I THINK WE HAVE A LOT OF, UH, QUESTIONS TO ANSWER WHEN IT COMES TO HOW WE'RE GONNA DEVELOP ON CAPS.
UM, AND SO THAT RIGHT OF WE'LL HAVE AN AIR RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH TXDOT, UM, I ASSUME WITH SUBLETTING ALLOWANCES
SO I, I MEAN, I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW HOW TEXAS WORK IN A STRANGE LEGAL SITUATION LIKE THAT.
UM, BUT IT REALLY JUST BECAUSE OF THE DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY, I WOULD SAY IT'S REALLY IS THE ADJACENT SITES WHERE THE MOST INCREMENT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN.
SO IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THOSE NORTHERN PROPERTIES, THE ONLY WAY IT, IT REALLY PROBABLY PENCILS OUT, UM, IN TERMS OF THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY PUT TOGETHER BONDS THAT COULD BE PAID FOR BY, UM, UH, HIGHER PROPERTY VALUE, UM, IS IF THE FIESTA MART AREA AND THE HANCOCK CENTER ARE WILLING TO REDEVELOP, HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAPPENED AT THE CITY.
I DON'T KNOW IF I WOULD, UM, SAY IT AS STRONGLY AS THAT, THAT THAT'S THE ONLY WAY IT PENCILS OUT.
I DON'T THINK WE'VE DONE THAT ANALYSIS YET.
UM, BUT, UM, IT, IT'S FORTHCOMING, IT'S, IT'S DEFINITELY ON THE RADAR TO, TO LOOK AT THOSE OPPORTUNITIES UP THERE.
AND THEN GOING BACK TO, UM, CAMPO AND, UM, TECH STOCKS, UM, I KNOW CHAIR LONG WAS SAYING AT THE LAST MEETING THAT THEY'LL LOOK AT OPENING UP, UH, A NEW CIG CYCLE AFTER THEY PASSED THE CURRENT ONE IN MAY.
OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A LONG LIST OF DEFERRED PROJECTS MM-HMM.
SO IT'S GONNA BE A FEW YEARS BEFORE THEY HAVE, UH, MORE DISCRETIONARY FUNDING FOR THE, THAT MIGHT BE AVAILABLE FOR THIS PROJECT, IS MY UNDERSTANDING.
2028 IS WHEN THEY SAY THAT'S IT, WE'RE DOING THE NEXT PROJECT.
[00:45:01]
RIGHT.AND THEN SO, UM, THE LAST PART IS ABOUT, UM, THE MAINTENANCE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE AT A POINT NOW WHERE OUR EXPENDITURES ARE, UH, GOING FASTER OR RISING FASTER THAN WE CAN INCREASE PROPERTY TAXES WITHOUT AN ELECTION.
UM, HAVE WE LOOKED AT WHETHER THE CITY CAN AFFORD THAT ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE COST THAT WILL BE ONGOING? DO WE NEED TO PERHAPS INCREASE M AND O PROPERTY TAXES IN ORDER TO PAY FOR THAT LONG TERM? RIGHT.
UM, THAT'S ANOTHER, UM, FUTURE ITEM ON OUR WORK PROGRAM YEAH.
THAT WE HAVE COMING UP, UM, TO THINK THROUGH.
WE'RE ALREADY STARTING TO THINK HOW WOULD, UM, ONGOING OPERATIONS FOR A SPACE LIKE THIS WORK, UM, IN OTHER CITIES, UM, THESE TYPES OF SPACES ARE MAINTAINED AND OPERATED BY THIRD PARTY CONSERVANCIES, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, OR FOUNDATIONS, UM, UH, BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS.
UM, SO, UM, THIS IS GONNA TAKE SOME CONVERSATION WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT'S NECESSARILY THE CASE THAT THIS WILL ALL FALL ON THE CITY'S MAINTENANCE BACKLOG.
UM, AND AS I MENTIONED, WE'RE DEFINITELY TRYING TO STAY COGNIZANT OF THOSE ONGOING O AND M COSTS AS WE'RE PROGRAMMING NOW.
WELL, I, I WANNA THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW, AND I'LL, I THINK I'LL JUST CLOSE BY SAYING, I THINK MY BIGGEST FEAR IS THAT WE END UP MIXING THE BONDS NECESSARY FOR THIS, UM, WITH OUR MOBILITY BONDS WHEN WE HAVE SUCH A NEED TO, TO HAVE A NEW ROUND OF MOBILITY BONDS TO MEET OUR BUILD OUT GOALS AND A TX WALK BIKE ROLE.
SO THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE CAN FUND THIS VIA OTHER THINGS LIKE THE STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK AND LIKE TIF DISTRICTS, UM, I THINK IS REALLY GREAT FOR OUR LONG-TERM MOBILITY GOALS.
UH, BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF OTHER MOBILITY GOALS THAT DON'T NECESSARILY FIT INTO THE CAPS.
AND I, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT WE STAY THE COURSE ON THOSE AND KIND OF LET CAPS GO TO THE SIDE.
SO THANK YOU FOR DOING ALL OF THAT.
EVERYBODY LIGHT A CANDLE FOR THAT GRANT APPLICATION TONIGHT.
OH, DID I HEAR A YES FROM COMMISSIONER ORTIZ? SORRY.
UM, SO I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE, I, THE CAPTAIN CONSTITUENTS ARE, BNC HAS, UH, A CONNECTION, RIGHT? OPPORTUNITY BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WEST.
AND I THINK I'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE OF WHAT ARE THE RISKS FOR THE EITHER BUSINESSES OR RES LIKE RESIDENTIAL, UM, AREAS ALONGSIDE WHERE THE CONSTRUCTION WILL HAPPEN AND WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, HOW THAT'S BEING CONSIDERED.
UM, DO YOU MEAN SPECIFICALLY, UM, WHAT THE CONSTRUCTION RELATED IMPACTS WOULD BE FOR SURROUNDING RESIDENTS? YEAH.
UM, THAT'S ANOTHER, UM, ISSUE THAT WE'RE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH TXDOT ON, UM, MAKING SURE THAT, UM, THE, THE PLANS FOR, UH, WHAT'S HAPPENING DURING THEIR CONSTRUCTION, UM, HAS AS LIGHT AN IMPACT AS POSSIBLE THAT PEOPLE CAN STILL GET AROUND AND A MULTIMODAL WAY.
UM, SO THAT'S AN ONGOING DISCUSSION, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, I MAYBE ANNA CAN HELP
SORRY, DIDN'T MEAN TO CALL YOU OUT.
I WAS, UM, SIDE TALKING TO OUR LIAISON HERE, SO, UM, IF YOU CAN ASK ME AGAIN, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER.
IT'S ABOUT, UM, MITIGATION OF CONSTRUCTION IMPACTS DURING TECH DOTS, CAPEX, CONSTRUCTION, UM, AND DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THAT.
WE HAVE A, A HEAVY DECADE OR SO OF CONSTRUCTION IN FRONT OF US AS A COMMUNITY BETWEEN THIS PROJECT AS WELL AS PROJECT CONNECT AND, AND CTMA AND OTHER THINGS GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, THE CITY IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH TXDOT ON WHAT WE'RE CALLING THE CONSTRUCTION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM, WHERE WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO GET A HANDLE ON, UM, THE TIMELINES OF ALL OF THESE PROJECTS, UNDERSTANDING, UM, WHAT THE IMPACTS ARE FROM A COMMUNITY WIDE PERSPECTIVE AND HELP MITIGATE THAT.
SO LET'S SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, PROJECT CONNECT IS CLOSING ALL NORTHBOUND LANES WILL HOPEFULLY TEXT OUT, WOULD NOT ALSO BE CLOSING ALL NORTHBOUND LANES.
TO THE EXTENT THAT WE'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT FRAMEWORK FOR THOSE CONVERSATIONS, UM, WE'LL BE DOING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY AND, AND DEALING WITH ALL OF OUR AWESOME QUESTIONS,
[3. Update from Capital Delivery Services with attention to Corridor Program community engagement and communication in relation to corridor construction plans ]
TO OUR NEXT, UH, DISCUSSION ITEM, ITEM NUMBER THREE[00:50:01]
ON OUR AGENDA, WHICH IS AN UPDATE FROM THE CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES, UM, DEPARTMENT.YOU, I'M SORRY, I, ANYWAY, WITH ATTENTION TO THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION IN RELATION TO CORRIDOR CONSTRUCTION PLANS, COMMISSIONERS, I'LL JUST REMIND YOU THAT, UM, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GET A QUARTERLY UPDATE FROM CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES.
I THINK THAT WAS THE COMMITMENT THAT WE HAD ABOUT THE PROGRESS ON OUR, UM, UH, BOND SPENDING AND CONSTRUCTION.
AND WE ASK FOR THIS ROUND SPECIFICALLY THAT WE GET SOME INFORMATION ABOUT HOW COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS HANDLED FOR THESE PROJECTS.
UH, ERIC BAILEY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES, UH, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
JUST PULLING UP MY NOTES HERE.
UM, HERE TO DISCUSS THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, FOR THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM AS WE, UH, MOVE FORWARD, UH, INTO A MORE HEAVY CONSTRUCTION PHASE, UM, IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW.
UM, THE CORDO PROGRAM OFFICE HIRED LIFELINE AS A CONSULTANT TO ASSIST WITH ALL ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
UH, LIFELINE INVOLVED OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN THE PLANNING PHASES BY OBTAINING FEEDBACK AND CONDUCTING PUBLIC MEETINGS.
UH, THEY ALSO INFORMED THE COMMUNITIES OF ANTICIPATED IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, IN 2023, THE CORRIDOR OFFICE WAS ABSORBED INTO CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES.
UM, AND FROM THE TIME THE BOND WAS APPROVED IN 2016 UNTIL TODAY, OUR TEAMS HAVE BEEN COMMITTED TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND HAVE USED A WIDE, UH, RANGE OF TACTICS TO REACH, UH, COMMUNITIES AND, AND THE PUBLIC IN TERMS OF, UM, WORKING ON THESE PROJECTS AND IDENTIFYING NEEDS IN THOSE AREAS.
SO THERE'S SEVERAL WAYS THAT WE'VE DONE THAT.
UH, COMMUNITY WALKS SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT IMPROVEMENT PLANS WITH CORRIDOR BUSINESSES, UH, HOSTING BUSINESS, OPEN HOUSE EVENTS, UM, TO REVIEW DESIGN SCENARIOS AND PRELIMINARY DESIGNS, UH, WEBSITES AND, YOU KNOW, NEWSLETTER UPDATES.
UM, SELECTING INPUT, UH, IN BUSINESS WORKSHOPS, UH, DIRECT MAILING LETTERS TO ALL CORRIDOR FACING PROPERTY OWNERS TO COMMUNICATE THE IMPROVEMENT PLANS, UM, MEETINGS WITH IMPACTED PROPERTY OWNERS OR MAOS TO HAVE DIRECT MEETINGS WITH FOLKS WHERE WE WERE PROPOSING, UH, CHANGES TO ACCESS, UM, TO THEIR PROPERTIES.
UM, AND OF COURSE, SOCIAL MEDIA, UH, TO KEEP THE LARGER AUSTIN COMMUNITY INVOLVED.
YOU KNOW, FACEBOOK, UH, X NEXT DOOR, AND THEN MEDIA, MEDIA ADVISORIES TO LEVERAGE THE MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE HAVE, UM, TO SHARE IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT, UH, PROGRESS.
UM, IN ADDITION, WE HELD PUBLIC MEETINGS, UH, TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THOSE, UH, PLAN IMPROVEMENTS ALONG THE CORRIDORS, AS WELL AS OPEN HOUSE EVENTS TO SHARE AND OBTAIN FEEDBACK ON THE DESIGN AND RETAIN, UH, AND REFINE THE DESIGN OF THE PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC IN 2020 CAUSED A DISRUPTION TO A LOT OF OUR IN-PERSON, UH, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, AND CAUSED US TO PIVOT FROM AN IN-PERSON TO, UH, VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
UH, AS YOU MAY KNOW, THOUGH, THERE'S VARYING SUCCESS WITH VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
UH, MANY OF THE TACTICS THAT WE NEEDED AT THE TIME WERE TO BE RESPONSIVE TO A PH GUIDANCE AND SHIFTING THE FORMS OF COMMUNICATION.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAD A COFFEE ON THE CORRIDOR THAT BECAME, UM, COFFEE ON THE COUCH, WHICH WAS MORE OF A, UM, YOU KNOW, A VIRTUAL TYPE OF MEETING, SAME KIND OF THEORY, BUT THEN WE HAD VIRTUAL PUBLIC HEARINGS, UH, MOBILITY BOND OFFICE HOURS, WHICH FEATURED CITY STAFF THAT WERE ON HAND TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS, UH, COMPLETED PROJECTS, UM, AND PROJECT SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS, VIRTUAL INFORMATION SESSIONS FOR BUSINESSES, UM, IN ADDITION TO PRESENTATIONS TO NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATIONS TO ENSURE THE FOLKS THAT WERE DIRECTLY IMPACTED BY THE CONSTRUCTION HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT THEY NEEDED.
AND THEN OB UH, TUCK TOUCH A TRUCK EVENTS, WHICH IS ONE OF OUR, UH, MORE POPULAR EVENTS FOR THE COMMUNITY WHEN WE START CONSTRUCTION MARKETING HEAVY EQUIPMENT OUT THERE FOR, UH, FOLKS TO HAVE A LOOK AT AND THAT KIND OF THING.
UM, QUICK UPDATE ON OVERALL, UM, PLAN ENGAGEMENT.
YOU SEE HERE AS WE MOVE THROUGH, UM, FROM 2017, UH, ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO 2024, UM, ONGOING, THE OUTREACH DURING THE DESIGN PHASE IS OBVIOUSLY A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN DURING CONSTRUCTION, WHERE WE TAKE IN COMMUNITY INPUT, UH, DEVELOP THAT AND REFINE THE PROPOSED DESIGNS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
I THINK AN IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE HERE IS DURING THE, UM, DESIGN AND AND PRELIMINARY NEEDS PROCESS, THERE'S IDENTIFIED NEED FOR ABOUT $1.7 BILLION WORTH OF IMPROVEMENTS ALONG THE CORRIDORS.
OBVIOUSLY, WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY TO FUND THE FULL IMPROVEMENTS, SO THEN WE'RE LOOKING AT A CASE WHERE WE ARE IDENTIFYING PRIORITY IMPROVEMENTS TO FUND A FULL PROJECT, AS WELL AS, UH, PROVIDING, UM, IMPROVEMENTS ALONG ALL OF THE CORRIDORS THAT DO PROVIDE SOME BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY, AND SOMETHING THAT COULD ALSO BE INTEGRATED INTO A FUTURE PHASE AS
[00:55:01]
WE MOVE FORWARD AND, AND HOPEFULLY OBTAIN, UH, MORE FUNDING FOR THESE, THESE MUCH NEEDED, UH, MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS.AT A HIGH LEVEL, WANTED TO GO THROUGH THE PROJECTS THAT ON EACH OF THE CORRIDORS THAT WE'VE COMPLETED, WHAT'S IN CONSTRUCTION AND WHAT HAS UPCOMING CONSTRUCTION.
STARTING WITH AIRPORT BOULEVARD, WE COMPLETED A COUPLE OF INTERSECTIONS THERE.
THE NORTH LAMAR, UH, BOULEVARD TO 55TH STREET PROJECT IS NEARING COMPLETION.
I THINK THEY'VE FINISHED SOME FINAL PAVING, AS YOU CAN SEE THERE.
UM, THE INTERSECTION AT 40TH STREET AND AIRPORT BOULEVARD, UH, IS IMPROVEMENTS THERE THAT, THAT ARE IN CONSTRUCTION NOW, SOON TO BE COMPLETED, AS WELL AS HARVEY.
UM, NEXT PHASE CONSTRUCTION UPCOMING, UM, THE 55TH TO 45TH STREET ALONG AIRPORT THAT'S GONNA BE SHARED USE PATHS ON, ON THE, UM, WEST SIDE OF THE STREET, UH, DELIVERED VIA IDIQ OR INDEFINITE, UH, DELIVERY, INDEFINITE QUANTITY.
UM, THEN THE EAST MLK, UM, BOULEVARD MOHAN TRAIL BRIDGE, WHICH IS THE BRIDGE THAT GOES OVER THE RAILROAD ON AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE MOHAN TRAIL BRIDGE TO, TO US 180 3.
THESE ARE, AGAIN, AREAS WHERE WE'VE IDENTIFIED THE NEED, UH, EXCEEDS THE FUNDING THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE.
SO WE'RE WORKING WITH, UM, COUNCIL OFFICES AS WELL AS THE COMMUNITY TO, TO DETERMINE WHAT THOSE PRIORITY IMPROVEMENTS ARE AND WHAT WE CAN DO FOR THE MONEY THAT WE HAVE.
UM, AND ONE OF THOSE, THE PENDING ITEM THERE IS THE 45TH STREET TO EAST MLK.
THAT ACTUALLY TIES IN QUITE A BIT WITH THE PREVIOUS, UH, AGENDA ITEM THAT Y'ALL HAD WITH THE I 35.
UM, UH, CHANGES AND UPDATES THAT TDOT'S GOING THROUGH.
WE DON'T WANNA PUT ANYTHING IN THERE THAT THEN TDOT COMES IN AND, AND RIPS UP.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON COORDINATION WITH THEM ON THAT.
UH, FOR BURNETT ROAD, WE'VE COMPLETED THE CONEY G TO WHITEHORSE TRAIL INTERSECTION AND THE INTERSECTION OF BREAKER LANE IN CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW IS THE AUSTIN ENERGY CCRA KRAMER DRAINAGE SITE, WHICH ALLOWS US TO ACTUALLY DO ADDITIONAL WORK ON BURNETT ROAD.
UM, THAT WAS A, A PROJECT THAT WE NEEDED TO DO TO MITIGATE THE ADDITIONAL IMPERVIOUS COVER PER CODE, UH, FOR WATERSHED TO HANDLE A LARGE DRAINAGE AREA.
UM, UPCOMING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.
WE HAVE THE WHITE HORSE TRAIL, THE 180 3 BRIGHT VERDE WAY TO LOOP ONE AND 180 3 TO BRIGHT VERDE WAY.
THOSE ARE ALL PROJECTS THAT ARE IN THE FINAL STAGES OF, UH, DESIGN THAT ARE LOOKING TO BID THIS SPRING EARLY SUMMER.
UM, THE OVERALL GOAL FOR THE PROGRAM IS TO HAVE ALL OF OUR MAJOR IFB PROJECTS IN CONSTRUCTION BY DECEMBER OF THIS YEAR.
UH, I THINK THAT IS AN AMBITIOUS GOAL, BUT SOMETHING THAT IS, UH, ACHIEVABLE.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE PERMITTING AGENCIES, UM, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, WATERSHED PROTECTION, AUSTIN WATER, AS WELL AS TDOT TO GET PERMITS FOR ALL THESE PROJECTS.
WE CAN MOVE FORWARD INTO CONSTRUCTION.
UH, WE'VE COMPLETED MANY SIGNAL PROJECTS ALONG EAST RIVERSIDE.
UM, I THINK IMPORTANTLY TO NOTE HERE, THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR IS ONE THAT'S GONNA BE GREATLY AFFECTED BY PROJECT CONNECT AS IT MOVES THROUGH, UH, THE EAST RIVERSIDE AREA.
SO A LOT OF THE WORK ON THERE.
IT, UH, IN TERMS OF TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS, WE FOCUSED REALLY ON THE SIGNALS AND GETTING THOSE DONE AND THE PRIORITIES THAT WE NEEDED TO THERE.
AND THEN COORDINATION WITH PROJECT CONNECT AS THEY MOVE FORWARD WITH, UM, THEIR SCOPE.
UH, GUADALUPE STREET WAS ONE OF OUR EARLY OUT CORRIDORS THAT WE FINISHED MOST OF THE WORK ON.
AGAIN, THIS HAS A TIE IN WITH PROJECT CONNECT AS WELL.
UM, BUT WORKING ON CONTRAFLOW TRANSIT LANES AND SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS ON OASIS, UM, AND 24TH STREET, NORTH LAMA, NORTH LAMAR BOULEVARD, UH, SOME SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED.
UM, THE, THE NORTH LAMAR BOULEVARD CORRIDOR IS PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING DUE TO THE UTILITY CONFLICTS AND THE, UM, AMOUNT OF RIGHT OF AWAY THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE HERE TO PROVIDE, UM, FULL IMPROVEMENTS.
SO, UM, THERE ARE A SERIES OF IFB PROJECTS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING THROUGH AND GETTING OUT TO, UM, CONSTRUCTION AGAIN, LIKE I SAID, BY THE DECEMBER, 2023 GOAL.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THE HOWARD LANE, CONTRAFLOW, CONTRAFLOW BUS LANE, AND SOME OTHER SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS AND THINGS, UH, MOVING FORWARD THERE FOR WILLIAM CANNON.
AGAIN, UH, SERIES OF SIGNAL PROJECTS TO IMPROVE CIRCULATION IN THAT AREA.
UH, WE HAVE A VERY LARGE ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ON RUNNING WATER DRIVE FROM MCKINNEY FALLS PARK, UH, SORRY, ON WILLIAM CANNON FROM RUNNING WATER DRIVE TO MCKINNEY FALLS PARKWAY, AND THEN SIGNALS AT RIALTO VEGA STEVENSON, NATURE, NATURE PRESERVE, AND SUN STRIPP.
THESE ARE THE ONES THAT WE TALKED ABOUT TOO, THAT THERE IS AN IDENTIFIED NEED, BUT THE FUNDING THAT WE HAVE, UM, DOES NOT ALLOW US TO COMPLETE THE FULL BUILD OUT, UH, ALONG WILLIAM KEON.
UM, WE WORKED WITH THE TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT TO IDENTIFY WHAT THOSE PRIORITIES ARE, WHERE THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS MOST NEEDED IN THE CITY AS A WHOLE, TO PRIORITIZE THOSE IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, THESE ARE SOMETHING THAT, UH, DEPENDING ON THE LEVEL OF MANAGEMENT RESERVE THAT IS COMPLETED AS WE MOVE FORWARD INTO CONSTRUCTION, UH, WE MAY BE ABLE TO COMPLETE MORE WORK ALONG, UH, EACH OF THOSE AREAS.
SLAUGHTER LANE, UH, COMPLETED WORK FROM FM 1826 TO BARSTOW AVENUE, UM, AND BRODY LANE,
[01:00:01]
UH, TO MANCHAC, UH, WEST OF CONGRESS IN SIGNALS, UH, AT VINEMONT DRIVE.UPCOMING CONSTRUCTION, UH, LOOP ONE, UH, EAST OF BRODY ON SLAUGHTER, AS WELL AS SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS AT BRIAR RIDGE.
BILL BROOK AND NARROW GLEN PARKWAY ALONG SOUTH LAMAR.
THIS IS ONE OF THE, UH, LARGER PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE.
UM, WE'VE COMPLETED SOME SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS ON SOUTH LAMAR.
IF YOU'VE DRIVEN DOWN SOUTH LAMAR LATELY, YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF WORK GOING ON IN TERMS OF UTILITY RELOCATIONS FOR AUSTIN ENERGY AND TEXAS GAS SERVICE.
THIS IS ALL IN PREPARATION FOR THE PROJECT FROM, UH, BARTON SPRINGS ROAD TO US TWO 90.
THIS IS PROBABLY THE LARGEST IFB PROJECT THAT WE HAVE, UH, IN THE CORRIDOR AND REPRESENTS A PRETTY, UM, PRETTY SIZE.
IFB, I'M VERY SORRY ABOUT THAT.
IFB IS INVITATION FOR BID, WHICH IS ONE OF OUR CONTRACTING METHODS WHERE WE COMPLETE THE, UH, DESIGN PROCESS, UH, WITH THE ENGINEER.
AND THEN THAT PROJECT IS PUT OUT TO BID FOR, UH, CONTRACTORS TO PROVIDE PRICING ON SO WE CAN EXECUTE A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION.
UM, THIS REPRESENTS A, A LARGE CHANGE IN THE SOUTH LAMAR CORRIDOR, AGAIN, FROM BARTON SPRINGS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO TWO 90, AND INVOLVES A LOT OF UTILITY COORDINATION AS WELL AS A PRETTY RESTRICTIVE, UM, YOU KNOW, RIGHT OF WAY IN TERMS OF THE WIDTH THAT'S AVAILABLE, UH, FOR US CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH THERE.
SO AGAIN, THIS IS PROBABLY THE PROJECT THAT HAS THE LONGEST LEAD TIME, UH, IN TERMS OF COMPLETING DESIGN AND GETTING IT OUT TO BID.
SO AGAIN, THIS'LL BE THE ONE THAT'S GOING TO PUSH THAT DECEMBER 23 OR 24.
UM, SORRY, DECEMBER 24, UH, BID.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER FOR QUESTIONS.
I AM SURE THERE WILL BE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AGAIN, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS NOT THE DETAILED UPDATE IN TERMS OF PROJECT PROGRESS, THAT WE WILL BE COMING BACK WITH A FURTHER UPDATE ON THAT, AS YOU MENTIONED EARLIER.
AND THIS CHART HERE, LET ME SEE WHICH THIS PAGE, HMM, DID YOU COVER THAT SLIDE OR IS THAT NOT COVER THAT SLIDE? YOU CAN TALK, TALK US THROUGH A BIT.
I DON'T KNOW THAT IT'S ON THE PRESENTATION THERE.
UM, THIS IS AN OVERALL MAP SHOWING, UM, THE PROJECT, UH, STATUS AT A, AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL IN TERMS OF WHAT'S BEEN COMPLETED, WHAT IS CURRENTLY, UM, IN CONSTRUCTION, AS WELL AS WHAT'S PLANNED FOR, UH, THE FUTURE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE COMING OUT TO BID THERE.
THE CORRIDORS ARE LISTED THERE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, UM, FOR EACH OF THE, UH, EACH OF THE CORRIDORS IDENTIFIED THERE.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE WORK THAT'S ALONG SLAUGHTER, WILLIAM CANNON, SOUTH LAMAR AS WE WORK OUR WAY NORTH.
UM, MLK AIRPORT, UM, GUADALUPE BURNETT, UH, NORTH LAMAR, WHEN SOMETHING'S MARKED LIKE DEFERRED, DOES THAT MEAN MM-HMM.
ABOUT A YEAR AGO, UM, AS WE WERE MOVING FROM THE DESIGN PHASE INTO CONSTRUCTION, IS WHEN IT REALLY HIT HOME THAT WE WEREN'T GOING TO HAVE THE FUNDING AVAILABLE IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE TO, UM, ACTUALLY TAKE THESE PROJECTS THROUGH TO CONSTRUCTION.
SO, UH, FOR THOSE PROJECTS, WE'RE MOVING FORWARD TO PHASES OF DESIGN OR, UM, PUTTING THEM ON HOLD UNTIL CONSTRUCTION FUNDING HAS BEEN, UH, OR CAN BE IDENTIFIED TO MOVE THAT PROJECT FORWARD.
HOW WERE THOSE DECISIONS MADE? YEAH.
IN COORDINATION WITH, UH, LIFELINE OUR, UM, OUR, UH, PUBLIC OUTREACH CONSULTANT AS WELL AS TEAMS FROM TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS AND CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES, IDENTIFYING WHERE, UM, NEEDS WERE GREATEST, WE EVALUATED BASED ON, UM, YOU KNOW, SAFETY, EQUITY, UM, COUNCIL DISTRICT, UM, AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF AREAS OF THE CITY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE, UH, DOING OUR BEST TO SERVE ALL OF THOSE AREAS.
WELL, THERE'S ONE THAT REALLY STANDS OUT TO ME FROM THAT LIST THEN, BECAUSE I SEE THAT THE NORTH LAMAR MM-HMM.
UM, SO I, I DON'T, I LIVE FAIRLY CLOSE TO THERE.
I, I'M, UH, THE APPOINTEE FOR DISTRICT FOUR.
AND IN FACT, WHEN WE WERE FIRST, UM, IN THE LEAD UP TO PROPOSING THIS BOND, I WENT ON A WALK, UM, ON THAT AREA OF, UH, OF NORTH LAMAR WITH, AT THAT TIME A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER OR MAYBE EVEN CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE AT THAT TIME.
UH, GREG KAZAR, I THINK HE HAD BEEN ELECTED.
BECAUSE IT WOULD'VE BEEN LIKE 2015 OR SOMETHING.
AND, UM, AND HE MADE A ARGUMENT OF WHY WE NEEDED THIS INVESTMENT TO,
[01:05:01]
TO INCREASE THE SAFETY AND EQUITY OF AREAS LIKE THAT.SO THAT'S A VERY STRIKING, UM, UH, AREA TO HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED.
UH, IF WE'RE LOOKING AT, WELL HOLD NOT ELIMINATED, OKAY.
AND SO THE ISSUE ON THAT SECTION OF NORTH LAMAR IS THERE IS OPEN DRAINAGE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ROADWAY, RIGHT? RIGHT.
AND SO IF YOU'RE ADDING ANY KIND OF IMPERVIOUS COVER, THAT MEANS PER CODE, YOU HAVE TO MITIGATE THE DRAINAGE IMPACTS THAT SYSTEM IS ALREADY AT OR NEAR DRAINAGE CAPACITY, WHICH MEANS THAT THEN YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH AND REBUILD THE ENTIRE DRAINAGE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THAT WATERSHED TO A DISCHARGE POINT.
NOW, THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS THAT THAT IS, AS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND, A VERY LARGE EXPENSE MOVING FORWARD FOR A TRANSPORTATION PROJECT.
SO THE REASON THAT ONE WAS DEFERRED WAS NOT BECAUSE OF NEED.
THE REASON THAT ONE WAS DEFERRED WAS BECAUSE OF COST OF DOING THAT PROJECT.
WE ARE COMPLETING SOME SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS AND CLOSING SIDEWALK GAPS ALONG THAT AREA.
BUT THAT PROJECT REALLY IS IN NEED OF A, A LARGER REGIONAL SOLUTION THAT TIES TOGETHER CAP METRO, TDOT, CITY OF AUSTIN, VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS, TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS, WATERSHED, AND, AND MANY OTHER GROUPS WHERE WE CAN'T DELIVER THAT PROJECT IN THE TIMELINE THAT I MENTIONED THERE.
THAT PROJECT NEEDS A MUCH LARGER DESIGN EFFORT IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD.
I'M, THIS IS NOT A JUDGMENT ON YOUR WORK, BUT IT'S SHOCKING AND APPALLING THAT THAT IS NOT, THAT THAT IS BEING DEFERRED.
IT'S THE MOST DANGEROUS NON-HIGH IN ALL OF AUSTIN IS NORTH OF MAR NORTH.
I DON'T HAVE THE WORDS FOR THAT RIGHT NOW.
SO, UM, I HAVE SOME OTHER QUESTIONS.
SO I'M GONNA
I THINK ABOUT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
SO, UM, SO IN TERMS OF THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, I THINK THERE WERE A LOT OF QUESTIONS, PARTICULARLY IN THE COMMUNITY AROUND THE AIRPORT BOULEVARD BUILD OUT, WHICH I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF AWESOME THINGS ABOUT THE AIRPORT BOULEVARD BUILD OUT.
UM, BUT I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THE TRANSITION TO THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICE, THERE USED TO BE, SO ONE OF MY BIG QUESTIONS, AND I NOTICED THAT YOU HAD IN YOUR LIST OF THINGS TOO, WAS THE NEWSLETTERS.
SO THERE USED TO BE CORRIDOR BASED NEWSLETTERS, BECAUSE I'M A WEIRDO, I WAS SIGNED UP FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE.
SO, UM, I GOT ALL THE NEWSLETTER UPDATES ABOUT THE CORRIDORS BECAUSE I'M JUST A DORK WHO ENJOYS THOSE THINGS.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, ARE THOSE NEWSLETTERS STILL BEING USED FROM THE OLD CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICE? YEAH, THE, THE PROGRAM, WHEN THE TRANSITION WAS MADE BETWEEN, UM, CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICE FROM THE CORRIDOR OFFICE AND CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES, THAT IS ONE THING THAT WE WERE LOOKING ON RESTARTING.
AND WHAT WE REALLY HAD TO DO WAS GO THROUGH THE PRIORITIZATION PROCESS BEFORE WE COULD RESTART THE NEWSLETTERS.
'CAUSE WHEN WE FIRST, LIKE I MENTIONED ABOUT A YEAR AGO, AND WE STARTED THIS REALIZATION OF WHAT WE COULD BUILD AND WHAT WE COULDN'T, UM, WE HAD TO MAKE THAT DETERMINATION BEFORE WE COULD START UP THE NEWSLETTER PROCESS.
IDENTIFYING WHICH CORRIDORS AND WHAT'S MOVING FORWARD.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON STARTING THAT UP AGAIN HERE IN THE NEW NEAR FUTURE AND GETTING THOSE, UM, REVAMPED AND, AND SET OUT THROUGH OUR PIO OFFICE.
SPEAKING OF PRIORITIZATION, THAT BRINGS UP A QUESTION.
I ACTUALLY SERVED ON A, A BODY I GUESS IN 2017 THAT PUT TOGETHER A PRIORITIZATION MATRIX FOR THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICE.
IS THAT STILL THE PRIORITIZATION TOOL THAT YOU'RE RELYING ON IN YOUR PROCESSES? I, I DON'T BELIEVE SO, BUT I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT.
'CAUSE THAT HAD A ROBUST PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS WITH A APPOINTED, UH, GROUP THAT WAS, AND I THOUGHT WE DID PRETTY GOOD WORK.
SO THAT WOULD DEFINITELY BE SOMETHING TO LOOK AT IF YOU'RE RELYING ON THAT, BECAUSE IT DEFINITELY, UM, INCLUDED A LOT OF, UH, EQUITY CONCERNS AND DIFFERENT, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONCERNS, THINGS OF, OF THAT NATURE.
SO THAT MIGHT BE AN IMPORTANT THING TO TRY TO LOOK BACK TO.
I, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WAS HELPFUL.
UM, UH, SO ONE OF THE QUESTIONS, AND I THINK, AND I'LL STOP AFTER THIS ONE, I HAVE MORE, BUT I'M, I'M GONNA LET OTHER PEOPLE TALK, UM, IS SORT OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I'VE HAD.
SO WE HAD A CORRIDOR PLANS, SOME OF WHICH HAD EXISTED FOR FIVE OR SIX YEARS BEFORE WE PASSED THIS BOND, WHICH WAS IN 2016, AND NOW WE'RE IN 2024.
AND SO ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAD IS THAT THE SITUATION ON THE GROUND HAS CERTAINLY CHANGED FROM 2016, AS I'M SURE NO ONE IS MORE WELL AWARE THAN YOU.
AND, UM, THE SITUATION'S ALSO CHANGED SINCE SOME OF THESE QUARTER PLANS WERE MADE, WHICH WAS, YOU KNOW, MULTI-YEAR PRIOR TO THE BOND EVEN BEING PASSED.
AND SO I THINK THERE'S A SITUATION IN WHICH THE COMMUNITY MAY, EVEN IF WE KNEW 15 YEARS AGO WHAT WAS IN THE CORRIDOR PLAN, OR IN 2016, WHAT WAS IN THE BOND, LIKE, WE'VE KIND OF FORGOTTEN IT.
SO I THINK WAYS THAT WE CAN REMIND EVERYBODY, BUT I ALSO AM LIKE WANTING TO REMEMBER THE, THE GOOD THINGS SO THAT WE DON'T FORGET THEM.
SO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS, AND I KNOW SOME PEOPLE HAVE DONE A LOT MORE CLOSE EYE AND WORK TO IT THAN I HAVE DONE IS WITH THE AIRPORT BOULEVARD BUILD OUT WITH THE, UM, MULTI-USE SHARED PATHS, WHICH ARE REALLY, I MEAN, I'M ALL FOR, AND, AND HAPPY ABOUT, BUT LIKE, THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS THAT HAVE ARISEN IN THE COMMUNITY OF LIKE, WELL, WE THOUGHT THAT STREET TREES WERE PART OF THIS AS WELL.
WE THOUGHT THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO TRY TO REDUCE THE CURB CUTS WAS
[01:10:01]
AN EFFORT MADE TO TRY TO REDUCE CURB CUTS BECAUSE THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SORT OF THAT GENERATIONAL INVESTMENT.SO I THINK THAT, LIKE, I WAS GONNA SAY, ACCOUNTABILITY, MAYBE THAT'S NOT REALLY THE RIGHT WORD, BUT THE, I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS ASKING FOR IS A LITTLE BIT MORE UNDERSTANDING OF, OF, AND WE WANT YOU TO SPEND THE MONEY.
WE WANT YOU TO GET YOUR MONEY SPENT AND BUILD THESE AMENITIES OUT FOR THE COMMUNITY.
BUT, UM, I THINK THAT THAT'S A LITTLE BIT LIKE PEOPLE ARE JUST HOPING TO UNDERSTAND THOSE THOUGHT PRO PROCESSES OR SEE THEM A LITTLE BIT MORE OUT IN THE OPEN, UM, LIKE WHY THINGS ARE HAPPENING THIS WAY VERSUS WHAT'S IN THE PLAN KIND OF THING.
SO I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
I GUESS THAT'S MORE OF A COMMENT THAN A QUESTION, BUT IF YOU WANNA RESPOND, THAT'S, THAT'S HELPFUL.
YEAH, I THINK THE, YOU KNOW, THE CURB CUTS ARE A CHALLENGING, UH, BALANCING ACT BETWEEN THE PUBLIC SAFETY, UM, NEEDS AND THE BUSINESS NEEDS FOR HAVING PARKING AND ACCESS TO THE BUSINESSES.
ONE OF THE PRIORITIES, PARTICULARLY ON AIRPORT BOULEVARD IS REMOVING WHAT WE CALL DRIVE WALKS.
I DUNNO IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THOSE, BUT IT'S BASICALLY A BIG LONG DRIVEWAY WHERE THE BUSINESS DOESN'T NECESSARILY NEED A HUNDRED FOOT LONG DRIVEWAY TO ACCESS THE BUSINESS.
UM, THEY PREFER IT IN A LOT OF, UM, CASES BECAUSE IT HELPS THEM WITH DELIVERIES AND OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT WE, FROM A SAFETY STANDPOINT, IT IS, UM, NOT A GREAT WAY TO HAVE PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLES MOVE THROUGH THE CITY.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE GO THROUGH AND WORK WITH THE BUSINESS OWNERS.
UM, WE'VE HEARD FROM THE PUBLIC AND FROM THE DESIGN STANDPOINT THAT YES, CLOSING, YOU KNOW, DRIVEWAYS AND REDUCING CURB CUTS IS AN IMPORTANT SAFETY MEASURE.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE BALANCES TO THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WITH THE EXISTING BUSINESSES AND THINGS THAT ARE THERE AS WELL.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, ON AIRPORT BOULEVARD, THE PROJECT THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE STARTING FROM 55TH TO 45TH WHEEL INCLUDE, UM, CLOSING, WELL REDUCTION IN, UM, DRIVE WALKS AND TURNING THEM INTO MORE STANDARD DRIVEWAYS IS IF YOU'VE WALKED UP AND DOWN AIRPORT BOULEVARD, YOU SEE A LOT OF, UH, DRIVE WALKS IN THAT AREA.
SO REALLY IDENTIFYING AND CLARIFYING THE ACCESS WHERE THE PEDESTRIAN, UM, VEHICULAR AND BICYCLE VEHICULAR CONFLICTS ARE GONNA TAKE PLACE.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE A MORE STANDARD, OH, THERE'S A DRIVEWAY THERE, I NEED TO WATCH OUT FOR A CAR THAT MAY BE TURNING IN HERE, KIND OF THING.
SO, UM, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING ON THAT TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN, WORKING WITH TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS, AS WELL AS THE LOCAL BUSINESSES IN ORDER TO, UM, YOU KNOW, OPTIMIZE THE SAFETY ALONG THOSE STREETS, BUT ALSO STILL ALLOW FOR ACCESS TO THE BUSINESSES THAT NEED ACCESS.
I'M GONNA LOOK TO OTHER COMMISSIONERS NOW FOR QUESTIONS.
UH, I'LL GO WITH COMMISSIONER BROOKS.
DOESN'T SHOW UP ON ANY OF THIS.
SPICEWOOD SPRINGS ROAD IS NOT PART OF THE 2016, UH, CORRIDOR PROGRAM.
IT'S CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
SO THIS UPDATE WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM.
SO, WELL, IT'S IN, IN FACT, FUNDED BY THE 2016 BOND.
IT IS FUNDED BY A, EVEN THOUGH IT'S CONSIDERED A REGIONAL YES.
THE PROBLEM WITH SPICEWOOD SPRINGS ROAD, WHICH I LIVE NEAR, I DON'T REALLY REQUIRE CONSTRUCTION UPDATES.
I CAN GET A BETTER UPDATE IN FIVE MINUTES OF TRAVEL.
UM, IT MAGICALLY POPPED UP AT DOUBLE THE BUDGET.
SO I HAVE A LITTLE, AT LEAST A CLUE TO WHAT WAS GOING ON THERE.
BUT IF I HAVE ANY MESSAGE, IT'S PEOPLE CAN'T SEE DESIGN, THEY CAN'T SEE NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT FUNDING.
THESE ARE ALL THE THINGS THEY CAN'T SEE AND WANT TO KNOW ABOUT.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCULPING AND PENDING MANAGEMENT REVIEW ON THAT MAP? YEAH.
SCULPING IS AREAS WHERE WE'VE IDENTIFIED A, A FULL SCOPE THAT, UM, WOULD INCLUDE THINGS, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU SEE ON THE NORTHERN PART OF AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
UM, SO THAT WOULD BE THE FULL SCOPE THAT WAS IDENTIFIED IN THE ORIGINAL BOND PLANNING PROCESS.
RECOUPING IS WE STILL NEED TO DO A PROJECT IN THAT AREA.
WE DON'T HAVE THE FUNDING TO BUILD THE FULL SCOPE.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING FOR A REDUCED SCOPE, GENERALLY PUTTING IN THINGS LIKE SHARED USE PATHS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT WE CAN DELIVER THROUGH AN IDIQ OR INDEFINITE DELIVERY, INDEFINITE QUANTITY METHODOLOGY TO PROVIDE SOME IMPROVEMENT IN THAT AREA.
BUT IT'S NOT THE FULL IMPROVEMENT THAT, UM, WE'VE IDENTIFIED THE NEED FOR.
SO I LIVE RIGHT OFF OF, UH, YOU KNOW, AN AREA WHERE WE HAVE SCULPING AND, UM, PENDING MANAGEMENT RESERVE.
WHERE CAN I FIND OUT WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING BUILT? RIGHT? LIKE, AM I GONNA GET SHARED USE PATHS? WHAT, WHAT DOES? YEP.
WE'RE, WE'RE ACTUALLY WORKING ON THAT
[01:15:01]
RIGHT NOW AND ROLLING OUT WHAT EXACTLY THOSE PLANS ARE LOOKING LIKE.THE FIRST ONE THAT'S REALLY COMING OUT OF THE GATE ON THE RES SCOPING IS THE, UM, 45TH TO 55TH SECTION THAT WE'RE DOING VIA IDIQ.
WE'VE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE BUSINESS OWNERS ALONG, ALONG THAT ROADWAY.
UM, AND THEN ALSO IN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING THE PROJECT WEBSITES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, AND THEN IN MOST CASES, THIS IS BEING DONE BECAUSE, WHICH MAKES SENSE, RIGHT.
WE NO LONGER HAVE THE FUNDS TO BUILD WHAT WE SAID WE WERE GONNA BUILD A COUPLE OF YEAR.
I, I DON'T, I DON'T SEE WHY THIS ISN'T HAPPENING WITH MORE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
I MEAN, THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO A TP AND THEY HAD A ROBUST PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WHERE WE ALL COLLECTIVELY CAME TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY AND SAID, YOU KNOW, YEAH, THESE ARE THE THINGS WE'D LIKE TO SEE.
UM, I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE SOME INPUT ON RIGHT.
WHAT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO GET BUILT RIGHT IN FRONT OF WHERE I LIVE.
UM, SO I GUESS I'M JUST CONFUSED WHY ALL THESE DECISIONS WERE MADE JUST UNILATERALLY BY CDS AND I GUESS YOU GUYS TALKED TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, BUT WHY WASN'T THERE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ON THOSE SCULPING AND DEFERMENTS? YEAH, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE SCOPE THAT WAS, UH, DEVELOPED WITH THE PUBLIC INPUT IN TERMS OF THE FULL SCOPE, UM, WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE PIECES OF THAT AND DELIVER IT UNDER THE PREMISE THAT THIS IS NOT THE BE ALL END ALL.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE FUNDING THAT'S AVAILABLE TO DELIVER THE FULL SCOPE RIGHT NOW.
SO WE'RE DELIVERING A PIECE OF THAT.
BUT YOU WERE RELYING OFF THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT YOU HAD FROM LIKE, YOU KNOW, 2015 TO 2017? YES.
WE'RE RELYING ON PREVIOUS PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT DATES ON THAT.
I MEAN, I GET THAT, BUT I WAS ALSO IN HIGH SCHOOL.
RIGHT? LIKE, THE CITY HAS CHANGED A LOT.
THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
THESE CORRIDORS HAVE CHANGED, AND I THINK THAT'S A LOT OF THE REASON WHY THERE ARE SOME ISSUES WITH AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
THAT PROBABLY COULD HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED IF THERE WAS PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
SO, AND THEN I, I GUESS LIKE WHAT I REALLY WANT ON THE, THE WEBSITE HAS BEEN IMPROVED, WHICH IS, IS GOOD.
AND I, THERE'S AT LEAST PLACES WHERE I CAN CONTACT WHAT I GUESS LIKE, LIKE HERE'S A SIMPLE QUESTION THAT I, I CAN'T ANSWER ON THE WEBSITE.
ARE WE STILL BUILDING SHARED USE PATHS DOWN THE, UH, AREA THAT IS MARKED PROCEED THE TWO 90 TO YEAH.
SO THERE'S STILL SHARED USE PATHS AND THEN WE'RE JUST DEFERRING THAT ONE PART OVER BY, UM, THE RIVER, THE BARTON SPRINGS TO, UH, RIVERSIDE DRIVE PORTION.
AND, AND SO, RIGHT EMILY, I THINK YOU JUST SAID A PART OUT LOUD THERE THAT MAYBE YEAH, I, I THINK WHAT IS VERY SIMPLE, AND I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY IT'S NOT QUITE THERE, IS JUST CAN WE PUT ON THE WEBSITE JUST EVEN LIKE A SIMPLE CANVA GRAPHIC OF WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING BUILT, WHAT IS NOT BEING BUILT? MM-HMM.
IS IT NOT BEING BUILT BECAUSE THERE ARE DRAINAGE ISSUES OR IS IT NOT BEING BUILT? 'CAUSE THERE ARE POWERS THAT BE, THAT ARE ABOVE US WHO DON'T WANT TO GIVE THE GREEN LIGHT TO THIS PROJECT.
I I THINK THE COMMUNITY HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW THOSE ANSWERS.
IS THERE A PATH TO GETTING THERE ON THE WEBSITE? UM, I'LL HAVE TO TALK WITH OUR LEADERSHIP ABOUT THAT AND I'LL, I'LL PASS ALONG THE DESIRE AND, AND, UH, WE'LL LET YOU KNOW.
AND THEN, SO WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS.
DO YOU GUYS HAVE A BALLPARK FIGURE FOR HOW MUCH MORE WE NEED AS WE GO INTO FUTURE BOND CYCLES? I ASSUME WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO ANOTHER BOND, RIGHT? TO PAY FOR THE REST OF THE CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS? YEAH, I MEAN, THAT WOULD BE THE FUNDING, THE MOST LIKELY FUNDING MECHANISM.
UH, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE PURSUING GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT THAT'S NOT GONNA CLOSE THE FULL GAP.
UM, AS OF LAST, WHEN WE RAN THE EVALUATION LAST MARCH, WHICH HAS GRANTED BEEN A WHILE, UM, THE TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET FOR THE FULL IMPROVEMENTS WAS IN THE RIGHT AROUND A BILLION TOTAL.
WE HAVE 482 MILLION, SO THERE'S ABOUT A $500 MILLION SHORTFALL.
UM, AND THAT PROBABLY WILL GROW AS INFLATION HAPPENS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UH, COMMISSIONER KAMAN, CONTINUING ON THE TRANSPARENCY ASPECT HERE, BECAUSE IT'S NOT ABOUT THE WEBSITE SOMETIMES OR IT'S ABOUT THE RECOUPING, IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND OUT WHO AT CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES CAN GIVE ME ANY AMOUNT OF INFORMATION.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW LIKE, IS THERE A MID-LEVEL, LIKE DIVISION MANAGER LEVEL PERSON HERE THAT IS IN CHARGE OF THIS PROJECT THAT CAN TELL ME SOME INFORMATION AND MM-HMM.
[01:20:01]
I FOUND OUT THAT AN INFORMATION I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET, LIKE A PROJECT THAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT IS GOING TO BID THIS SUMMER.I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO ASK FOR, I'VE ASKED FOR THAT INFORMATION AND NOT GOTTEN IT.
THERE ARE SOME SERIOUS TRANSPARENCY CONCERNS WITH THIS, THE, THESE PROJECTS.
AND I THINK THAT THIS CDS ACTION PLAN, AND AS YOU UPDATE THE WEBSITE, I THINK THAT THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF TRUST TO BE REGAINED WITH THE COMMUNITY REGARDING THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION THAT WE'RE, UM, GETTING AROUND ANY OF THESE PROJECTS.
BECAUSE I KNOW WHO AT TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS, I CAN EMAIL AND HAVE INFORMATION AT THE END OF THE WEEK ABOUT CERTAIN THINGS AND IF THEY DON'T KNOW, THEY SAY THEY DON'T KNOW AND THAT'S OKAY.
UM, BUT THAT, THAT THERE ARE SOME, THERE ARE SOME CONCERNS.
I MEAN, HOW ARE PEOPLE KNOWING THAT SOMETHING'S NOT BEING FUNDED OR DEFERRED? AND I KNOW THERE'S OTHER DRAINAGE PROJECTS ON HERE TOO.
LIKE I JUST, I I WOULD REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO BACK TO THAT PRIORITIZATION MATRIX THAT, UH, WE PUT TOGETHER IN, AND I THINK 2017, I, I MEAN, I THINK WE DID GOOD WORK.
I, HOPEFULLY THAT ISN'T GONE
AND, UM, I THINK WE DID GOOD WORK.
SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT Y'ALL SHOULD REVISIT.
UM, IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT, UM, WHEN DIRECTOR SNOW SPOKE WITH US LAST, HE TALKED A LOT ABOUT HOW, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'VE BROKEN TRUST AND I DON'T REALLY WANNA SAY THAT, BUT LIKE MAINTAINING, I DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, NO.
MAINTAINING THE TRUST OF OUR COMMUNITY MM-HMM.
AND, UM, WE OBVIOUSLY WENT THROUGH A VERY DIFFICULT PUBLIC PROCESS WITH PROJECT CONNECT WHERE WE HAD TO SORT OF MODERATE SOME OF OUR ORIGINAL GOALS THAT WE'RE SORT OF, IN SOME SENSE STILL DEALING WITH, UM, LEGALLY.
AND, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SIMILAR, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT THROWING LIGHT ON IT IS UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT I THINK PEOPLE, UH, DESERVE TO KNOW.
AND, AND, AND IT'S, IT'S HARD FOR ME, YOU KNOW, LIKE I'M A BIG ADVOCATE FOR THESE BONDS AND FUNDING, BUT LIKE, WHEN WE PROMISE COMMUNITIES, SOMETHING, COMMUNITIES THAT ARE STRUGGLING WITH TRAFFIC VIOLENCE AND, YOU KNOW, INEQUITABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND, UM, THEN WE REMOVE THEM AND, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, IS, HAS ANYONE HERE SEEN THIS BEFORE? NO.
YOU KNOW, AND WE FIND OUT IN THIS SETTING, IT'S VERY TROUBLING.
AND LIKE, I'M THINKING ABOUT LIKE, FUTURE BOND CAMPAIGNS AND GOING INTO COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND CAMPAIGNING FOR THINGS THAT, THAT I BELIEVE IN, BUT THAT GET PULLED FROM THEM SOMETIMES.
AND SO I, I, I ALREADY SAID, I DON'T HAVE WORDS, BUT I GUESS I FOUND SOME MORE.
SO, UM, YOU HEARD, YOU HEARD THEM.
UM, I
I I'M STILL IN A STATE OF SHOCK, OBVIOUSLY.
SO, UM, ANYONE ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS? UM, ON, FOR OUR PRESENTER? SEE IF I'VE GOT ANYBODY WHO HASN'T ASKED A QUESTION YET.
I KNOW I'M THE BIGGEST CULPRIT.
UH, COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER AGAIN.
UM, SO ANOTHER ISSUE IS, UM, THERE WERE VERY DETAILED PLANS THAT WERE RELEASED PRE 2020.
SOMETHING HAPPENED WITH THE WEBSITE AND THOSE PLANS WENT DOWN.
THOSE WOULD BE VERY USEFUL JUST TO UNDERSTAND WHERE CHANGES WERE MADE.
AND I, I'M CAN GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE IN TERMS OF, UH, THE, I'M SURE YOU KNOW THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL RIGHT? HAS DONE A LOT OF WORK ON AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
UM, AND PART OF THE PROBLEM WE WERE RUNNING INTO IS WE DID NOT KNOW WHO MADE WHAT SCULPING AND CHANGING DECISIONS.
BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT DOCUMENT.
YOU KNOW, NOBODY SAVED IT FROM BACK IN 2017 OR 2020 OR WHENEVER IT WAS PROVIDED.
SO WE WEREN'T ABLE TO EVEN REALLY LOOK AT WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY SAID WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND WHAT IS NOW HAPPENING.
AND FRANKLY, STAFF DIDN'T REALLY KNOW EITHER.
SO, I MEAN, DO WE HAVE THOSE DOCUMENTS OR ARE THEY LOST? OKAY.
CAN THEY BE UPLOADED TO THE WEBSITE? MM-HMM.
IF WE COULD DO THAT, THAT'D BE AWESOME.
DID ANYONE ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS FOR OUR PRESENTER? YEAH, I SEE COMMISSIONER SMITH FOLLOW QUESTION.
UH, I GUESS I JUST WANNA TOUCH BACK ON THE, UH, RIGHT BEFORE THIS LAST QUESTION AND GIVE THE PRESENTER A CHANCE TO RESPOND IN REGARD TO, YOU KNOW, I GUESS THE BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION THAT WAS EXPRESSED AS FAR AS LIKE MULTIPLE OUTREACH ATTEMPTS, UH, TO EITHER LOW LEVEL OR DIRECTORS.
ANY CLARITY ON AS TO WHY THE, I MEAN, THE HEAVILY EDITED EMAIL SEEMS, I GUESS A LITTLE CONCERNING AND I WOULD JUST LOVE TO HEAR MORE, UH,
[01:25:01]
FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE, I GUESS, OR FROM, FROM YOUR, YOU KNOW, YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON YEAH.I, THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS AND WHY THAT MAY BE BREAKING DOWN.
SO, UM, ON THE HEAVILY EDIT EDITED EMAIL, I HAVEN'T SEEN THAT EMAIL.
HOWEVER, WE DO HAVE, YOU KNOW, A TEAM OF PROJECT MANAGERS WHO ARE VERY INVOLVED IN THE PROJECTS, KNOWING THE DETAILS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
WE ALSO HAVE, UM, A TEAM OF, UM, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS THAT WORK WITH MESSAGING AS A WHOLE.
THE WAY THAT WE TAKE IN AND RESPOND TO QUESTIONS IS THOSE QUESTIONS USUALLY COME IN EITHER THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO SOMEONE ELSE.
WE REFER TO THE PROJECT MANAGER AND BASICALLY SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THIS? I DON'T HAVE THE DAY-TO-DAY DETAILS OF WHAT'S GOING ON ON A LOT OF THE PROJECTS.
UM, AND THEN THEY PROVIDE A RESPONSE, WHICH IS THEN, UM, REVIEWED BY OUR COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MESSAGING IS SIMILAR TO OTHER RESPONSES THAT HAVE COME IN.
SO THEY SERVE AS SORT OF A CENTRAL REPOSITORY.
IF YOUR PARTICULAR QUESTION WASN'T ANSWERED, I DEFINITELY WANT TO HEAR THAT AND SEE THAT.
I'LL GIVE YOU MY BUSINESS CARD, MY CONTACT INFORMATION AND LET ME KNOW WHAT THE SPECIFICS ARE ON THAT QUESTION BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE DO OUR BEST TO ANSWER, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT WE CAN.
THERE ARE, LIKE YOU SAID, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE JUST DON'T KNOW.
UM, AND LIKE YOU SAID, THAT IS A PERFECTLY FINE RESPONSE.
IF WE DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER, SAY, HEY, WE NEED SOME TIME.
WE'RE REVIEWING THE DESIGN, OR WE'RE WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY TO DETERMINE WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO, THAT'S TOTALLY FINE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE NOT GETTING THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS YOU'RE ASKING, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY LET US, LET ME KNOW.
AND I'M HAPPY TO WORK WITH OUR, OUR FOLKS ON THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT SIDE AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATION SIDE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT, THAT STUFF'S CLEAR.
AND, UH, I THINK THAT THIS VENUE, AND I DON'T MEAN TO GRILL YOU OR RACK ON THE DEPARTMENT AT ALL, BUT, UH, THIS IS A GREAT STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HEAR FROM YOU AND NOW WE'VE HEARD TWICE IN THE LAST FOUR MONTHS, AND THAT REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR OUR, UH, PRESENTER LOOKING ONLINE AT OUR ONLINE FOLKS? OKAY.
WELL, I THINK THAT CONCLUDES THIS.
THANK YOU FOR TAKING OUR QUESTIONS TODAY.
WE APPRECIATE IT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THINGS ARE HARD, WE APPRECIATE IT.
[Items 4 & 5]
COMMISSIONERS, THAT TAKES US TO OUR DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. I'LL CALL UP OUR, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORK STAFF WHO ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT, UM, A SERIES OF TWO RIDE OF WAY VACATIONS, ITEMS FOUR AND FIVE, I ASSUME WE'LL TAKE THOSE CONSECUTIVELY.HELLO, UH, COMMISSIONERS AND THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
I'M JOSEPH TINOS, I'M THE PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE LAND MANAGEMENT GROUP WITH TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS.
AND, UH, I'M HERE TO PRESENT THE, UM, TWO FOLLOWING RIGHT OF WAY VACATION REQUESTS.
UM, THE FIRST ONE I AM SHOWING HERE, UH, IS, UH, FOR AN ALLEY RIGHT OF WAY VACATION, UM, OF 2015 WITTS AVENUE AND 2010 UNIVERSITY, THE ALLEY IN BETWEEN THOSE TWO ADDRESSES.
SO THIS MAP SHOWS THE, UH, THE ALLEY AND THE AREA TO BE VACATED IN RED.
UM, THIS IS, UH, THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER IS THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF AUSTIN.
THAT'S THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF AUSTIN.
THAT IS AT 2010 UNIVERSITY AVENUE, 2015 WITS IS, UH, ACTUALLY THE PARKING LOT ON THE OTHER SIDE THERE.
UM, THE ALLEY, UH, ABUTTING 2015 WITS AVENUE AND 2010 UNIVERSITY AVENUE SHOWING HERE IN AN AERIAL PHOTO.
AND, UH, IT IS A PAVED, DEVELOPED ALLEY RIGHT OF WAY.
AND HERE IS AN IMAGE FROM THE GROUND.
YOU'LL SEE THE, UH, UNIVERSITY CATHOLIC CENTER THERE ON THE LEFT AND THE AFOREMENTIONED PARKING LOT ON THE RIGHT OF THE ALLEY.
AND THE VACATION TRACT IS APPROXIMATELY 0.0482 ACRES, AND ALL PROPERTY OWNERS WITHIN 300 FEET OF THE VACATION AREA.
WERE SENT PUBLIC NOTICES ON APRIL 22ND, 2024.
WE HAVE NO OBJECTIONS, AT LEAST WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY OBJECTIONS.
UM, ALL AFFECTED CITY DEPARTMENTS AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS HAVE REVIEWED AND RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF THIS RIGHT OF WAY VACATION SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE MASTER COMMENT REPORT, WHICH WE SUBMITTED WITH THIS PRESENTATION AS WELL.
AND THE CITY WILL, UH, RETAIN A PUBLIC UTILITY EASEMENT OVER THE ENTIRE AREA, AND IT'S TO BE VACATED, UH, OR TO PROVIDE FOR EXISTING FACILITIES UNTIL RELOCATED BY THE APPLICANT.
UH, EXISTING EASEMENTS TO BE RETAINED INCLUDE AT AND T AUSTIN WATER, AUSTIN ENERGY WATERSHED ENGINEERING.
AND WHEN, UH, ASKED ON THEIR INITIAL APPLICATION BACK IN 2022, HOW DO YOU PLAN TO DEVELOP THE AREA TO BE VACATED, UH, THE RESPONSE WAS, UH, SUBJECT
[01:30:01]
TO THE APPROVAL OF THE APPLICATION.THE PROPERTY OWNED BY THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF AUSTIN WILL BE REDEVELOPED WITH CHURCH RELATED FACILITIES.
AND THERE IS A SITE PLAN ASSOCIATED WITH THAT AS WELL.
AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS PARTICULAR RIGHT OF WAY SINCE THE FOLLOWING, OR THE NEXT RIGHT OF WAY.
UH, VACATION IS BASICALLY THE REST OF THE ALLEY.
WE CAN EITHER DO ONE AT A TIME OR I COULD DO BACK TO BACK, UH, HOWEVER THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO PROCEED.
YEAH, WHY DON'T WE JUST GO AHEAD AND HEAR THAT ONE TOO AND THEN WE CAN VOTE ON BOTH, I GUESS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ROBERT'S.
I THINK WE'VE DONE THAT BEFORE WHEN THEY'RE SUPER RELATED.
PROCEEDING ON THEN, UH, THE SECOND HALF OF THIS VACATION IS THE SAME ALLEY RIGHT OF WAY VACATION APPLICATION.
UH, THE ADDRESS IS HERE, 2001 TO 2011 WITTIS AVENUE, AND 2000 TO 2004 UNIVERSITY AVENUE.
SLIDE, UH, IT'S A DIFFERENT, UH, UH, UH, POWERPOINT FOR THE REST OF THE ALLEY.
I'VE GOT FOUR DIFFERENT, IT, IT JUST, NO, IT'S JUST THE, THE POWERPOINT.
YEAH, WE'RE DOING BOTH OF THE, YEAH.
SO, UH, THE SECOND ONE, UH, AS I SAID, IS AN ALLEY RIGHTAWAY VACATION, UH, APPLICATION OF 2001 TO 2011 WITTIS AVENUE AND 2000 TO 2004 UNIVERSITY AVENUE.
ON THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, YOU'LL SEE THE, THERE IT IS, THE REMAINDER OF THE ALLEY IN RED THAT, UH, RUNS THE LENGTH, UH, OF THE ALLEY.
THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER OF THIS ENTIRE RIGHT OF WAY, UH, IS THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM.
AND HERE'S OUR AERIAL AGAIN WITH THE, UH, ALLEY VACATION IN RED SHOWING AND THE ALLEY ABUTTING, 2001 TO 2011 WITTIS AVENUE AND 2000 2004 UNIVERSITY AVENUE.
AND IT IS IT, AS THE REST OF IT IS THE PAVED DEVELOPED ALLEY RIGHT OF WAY.
THERE IS AN IMAGE OF, UH, THE RIGHT OF WAY ALLEY, AND THAT'S OF COURSE FROM THE OTHER SIDE LOOKING DOWN TOWARDS THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY CENTER.
THIS VACATION TRACT IS APPROXIMATELY 0.1127 ACRES.
UM, ONCE AGAIN, ALL PROPERTY OWNERS WITHIN 300 FEET OF THE VACATION AREA WERE SENT PUBLIC NOTIFICATIONS ON APRIL 24TH, 2024.
NO OBJECTIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
ALL AFFECTED, CITY DEPARTMENTS AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS HAVE REVIEWED AND RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF THIS RIGHT OF WAY VACATION APPLICATION SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS ON THE MASTER COMMENT REPORT, WHICH WAS ONCE AGAIN SUBMITTED WITH THIS PRESENTATION.
AND THE CITY WILL RETAIN A PUBLIC UTILITY EASEMENT OVER THE ENTIRE AREA TO BE VACATED TO PROVIDE FOR EXISTING FACILITIES UNTIL RELOCATED BY THE APPLICANT AND THOSE EXISTING EASEMENTS TO BE RETAINED INCLUDE AT AND T AUSTIN WATER CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS AND WATERSHED ENGINEERING.
AND WHEN ASKED HOW THE AREA WAS TO BE DEVELOPED IN THEIR INITIAL APPLICATION SUBMITTED IN 2022, THE ANSWER WAS TO SUB, UH, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE APPLICATION.
THE PROPERTY OWNED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS WILL BE REDEVELOPED WITH UT RELATED FACILITIES.
AND ONCE AGAIN, THAT SAME SITE PLAN APPLIES TO BOTH.
UM, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS I CAN REGARDING THE RIGHT OF WAY PROCESS ITSELF.
ANY MORE DETAILED QUESTIONS, UH, CAN BE ANSWERED BY, UH, REPRESENTATIVES FROM ARM AND BROWN OR UT WHICH WHO ARE HERE TONIGHT.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR, I THINK IT WOULD BE BEST DIRECTED TO THE UT AH, YES.
UH, SO, UM, MARA, YOU WANNA COME UP AND THIS IS, UH, MA LANDY FROM UT ANSWER THIS QUESTION, I'M HOPING.
UM, SO I WAS REVIEWING THE ATTACHED SITE PLAN AND I WAS JUST HAVING DIFFICULTY FIGURING OUT EXACTLY WHAT THE UNIVERSITY WAS TRYING TO BUILD.
IS IT JUST THE UTILITIES FOR THE GRADUATE STUDENT BUILDING OR UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS BUILDING, UH, TO BE LOCATED ON THE, ON THE ALLEY? YEAH.
UH, IT WOULD BE LOCATION OF THOSE UTILITIES TO BUILD THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS.
SO IT IS, I I REALLY, I GUESS WHAT I WAS JUST CONCERNED ABOUT IS
[01:35:01]
WHETHER THIS WAS NEEDED FOR AN EXTENSION OF SURFACE PARKING, BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS IS.THIS IS JUST TO, WHICH I BELIEVE YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY PURCHASED THE LAND FOR THE GRADUATE STUDENT BUILDING.
SO THIS IS JUST, YOU CAN RELOCATE THOSE UTILITIES AROUND THERE.
ARE THERE OTHER QUESTIONS FOR, UH, STAFF OR THE, UH, REPRESENTATIVES OF THESE TWO ITEMS? OKAY.
WE'RE GONNA FIRST TAKE A OA VOTE ON ITEM ONE, WHICH IS THE PORTION OF THAT RIGHT OF WAY VACATION THAT IS NOT ITEM ONE, ITEM FOUR.
THAT IS, UH, THE PORTION THAT'S OWNED BY THE UNIVERSITY CATHOLIC CENTER.
SO, ALL, ALL FAVOR IN FAVOR OF PROVING THE RIGHT OF WAY VACATION OF THAT PIECE.
UH, ITEM FOUR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE, DO YOU NEED A MOTION? OH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
THIS IS WHY YOU ARE
GUYS, THIS IS WHY WE HAVE ONE.
THANK YOU FOR THAT HELPFUL REMINDER.
ALL RIGHT, SO WE HAVE A MOTION BY MYSELF, A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER.
WE'RE NOW MOVING A VOTE TO ITEM FOUR.
THIS IS THE RIGHT OF WAY VACATION FOR THE, UM, UH, CATHOLIC, UH, UNIVERSITY CATHOLIC CENTER PORTION.
RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE, IF YOU'RE IN FAVOR.
UH, I BELIEVE I SEE EVERYBODY BUT ONE OF OUR ONLINE FOLKS.
OKAY, SO THAT PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
I HAVE DECIDED AFTER I'VE SEEN THIS A BIT AS A UT EMPLOYEE, JUST TO BE CAREFUL AND AVOID ANY CONFLICT.
I'M GONNA RECUSE MYSELF WHILE Y'ALL VOTE ON THIS.
SO I'M GONNA CALL ON COMMISSIONER BROOKS TO HOPEFULLY CONDUCT THE VOTE ON THIS ITEM NUMBER FIVE.
I MOVE ITEM NUMBER FIVE TO A VOTE.
ANYBODY SECOND IT? I'LL SECOND THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION.
UH, WE NEED A PARLIAMENTARIAN.
UNANIMOUS EXCEPT FOR THE ONE PERSON IS THEMSELVES.
ALRIGHT, SO I SHOULD GO ASK SUSAN, COME BACK IN.
ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE, LET'S SETTLE IN.
SO WE ARE, UM, HERE FOR OUR LAST, UH, ACTION ITEM NOW IS UP ITEM NUMBER SIX,
[6. Discussion and approval of a recommendation on dockless micromobility regulations and transportation-related rule making ]
WHICH IS DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF A RE OF A RECOMMENDATION ON DOCKLESS MICRO MOBILITY REGULATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION RELATED RULEMAKING.UM, STAFF, IF YOU COULD, I'M JUST GONNA, UH, PREFACE THIS A BIT.
SO WE HAVE, UH, A, A RECOMMENDATION THAT WAS CIRCULATED TO COMMISSIONERS IN ADVANCE.
IT SHOULD BE IN THE PAPER PACKETS.
IT'S A PRETTY MEATY RECOMMENDATION.
I DON'T NECESSARILY, I, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE GONNA GIVE US THE PRESENTATION YOU'RE GONNA GIVE US AND WE'RE GONNA ASK A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
OUR RECOMMENDATION MAY BE GERMANE TO YOUR PRESENTATION IN SOME WAYS AND IN OTHER WAYS NOT.
AND SO THEN WE'LL TAKE THAT UP AND IF Y'ALL WANNA STAY FOR QUESTIONS, 'CAUSE THERE MIGHT BE QUESTIONS Y'ALL CAN HELP US WITH AS WE DIG INTO THE RECOMMENDATION.
BUT WE'RE UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE NOT REALLY HERE TO PRESENT ON OUR RECOMMENDATION.
YOU'RE GONNA GIVE US THE PRESENTATION YOU'VE PREPARED AND THEN WE'LL JUST MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE, KIND OF, SORT OF, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
I AM THE PARK ENTERPRISE MANAGER AT TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS.
UM, AND I OVERSEE OUR SHARED MOBILITY PROGRAM.
I HAVE WITH BEING MY SHARED MOBILITY PROGRAMS SUPERVISOR, UH, TO HELP WITH THIS PRESENTATION.
JUST A QUICK OVERVIEW, WE ARE HERE TO KIND OF GIVE AN UPDATE ON RECENT CHANGES TO OUR PROGRAM FROM OUR DIRECTOR, UH, AT THE RECENT MOBILITY COMMITTEE.
UM, THIS WAS BASED ON, UH, CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'VE HAD WITH OUR PROVIDERS AND VENDORS, UH, AS WELL AS CONCERNS THAT CAME FROM OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, SO WE'RE HERE TO GIVE A STATUS UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE WITH THOSE.
UM, PROVIDE A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON, ON THE PROGRAM AS WELL.
ALRIGHT, UH, EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
UH, THANKS FOR ALLOWING US THE TIME TO PRESENT ON THIS.
MY NAME'S MIKE KIMBRO, UH, SUPERVISOR FOR SHARED MOBILITY SERVICES IN, UH, THE PARKING ENTERPRISE
[01:40:01]
DIVISION, TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS.UH, EXCITED TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF AN IDEA OF HOW WE, UH, OPERATE SHARED MOBILITY WITHIN THE CITY.
UM, SO YEAH, BASICALLY, JESS, IF YOU WANT TO STEER THINGS THERE.
SO, UH, OVERVIEW OF THE BRIEFING THAT WE WANT TO GIVE.
UH, FIRST UP WE'LL DO A, A BIT OF AN KIND OF A BROAD OVERVIEW OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM.
UH, SOME 23 NUMBERS, THAT SORT OF THING TO KIND OF GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHERE WE ARE NOW.
UM, WE'LL TALK ABOUT OPERATIONAL POLICIES AND DATA COLLECTION.
UH, WE'LL MOVE ON TO, UH, RECENT PROGRAM UPDATES.
WE'LL BREAK THOSE OUT INTO LICENSING AND PERMITTING AND OPERATIONS SO WE CAN DISCUSS MORE IN DEPTH ABOUT BOTH OF THOSE.
UM, THOSE TWO BEING SPEED LIMIT REDUCTION, DESIGNATED STAGING AND PARKING AREAS.
UM, THAT REGULATION BACKGROUND WILL ACTUALLY BE COMING UP.
THAT'S OUT OF ORDER, BUT
UH, AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT NEXT STEPS AND ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
SO, UH, FIRST UP, FULL SYSTEM OVERVIEW.
UM, AS MOST OF YOU I'M SURE ARE, ARE WELL AWARE, UH, WE ARE CURRENTLY DOWN TO TWO OPERATORS AFTER THE, UH, AFTER THE, UH, DEPARTURE OF LINK SLASH SUPER PEDESTRIAN AT THE END OF LAST YEAR.
UH, UM, AROUND AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER OF LAST YEAR, UH, CURRENTLY PERMITTED VEHICLES.
LYME HAS 3,700 SCOOTERS, UH, AND THEY'RE OPERATING AROUND 180 E-BIKES.
UM, TOTAL TRIPS FOR THE YEAR, UH, 2023.
I BROKE THESE OUT BY OPERATOR.
UH, LYME DID 1.86 MILLION MILLION TRIPS FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR FOR JUST THEIR SCOOTERS AND A LITTLE OVER 63,000 FOR THE E-BIKES.
UH, BIRD CAME IN JUST SHY OF 800,000 TOTAL TRIPS LINK ABOUT 225 IN WHEELS, 33,000.
UM, AND AGAIN, THEY LEFT THE MARKET.
UH, I I BELIEVE SEPTEMBER WAS THE DAY THAT WAS, WAS WHEN THEY LEFT TOWN.
UH, TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED ALMOST 3 MILLION MILES.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE, WE DON'T KNOW THE EXACT NUMBERS, HOW MANY CAR TRIPS THAT DON'T ELIMINATE, BUT I THINK IT'S A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT NUMBER, UH, UM, WHICH IS A PRETTY COOL THING.
UM, WE HAVE OUR TWO PRIMARY AREAS OF OPERATION, I THINK ARE ESSENTIALLY THE, UH, OBVIOUSLY THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PROJECT COORDINATION ZONE IS THE BIGGIE THAT MAKES UP ABOUT 70% OF OUR TRIPS.
UH, OVER 2 MILLION TRIPS LAST YEAR HAPPENED WITHIN THE DPS E.
UH, ANOTHER BIG ONE IS, UH, UP ON, UH, CAMPUS AND WEST CAMPUS.
UM, SPECIFICALLY UT'S BECOME, UM, MUCH MORE FRIENDLY TO THE SCOOTER OPERATORS OVER THE LAST YEAR.
UH, I LIKE TO THINK I HAD SOME HAND IN THAT
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY HAD ALMOST 400,000 TRIPS LAST YEAR AT UT IN, IN THE AREA AROUND WEST CAMPUS, UM, WHICH IS NOT INSIGNIFICANT.
UM, UH, EVENTS ARE OBVIOUSLY THE BIG PLAYER.
THOSE ARE THE BIG MONEY MAKERS FOR THE PROVIDERS.
UH, AND, AND THE TIMES WHEN WE REALLY, UH, RAMP UP OUR OPERATIONS AND, AND MAKE SURE TO KEEP THINGS SAFE AND AND CLEAN WITHIN THE CITY.
UM, THESE NUMBERS ARE ACTUALLY, WELL ACTUALLY AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FESTIVAL, THESE ARE THE 2023 NUMBERS.
UH, WEEKEND ONE CAME IN JUST SHY OF 60,000 TRIPS, UH, WEEKEND TWO 62,000 TRIPS.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THERE'S A COUPLE PICTURES UP THERE THAT IS THE PRIMARY STAGING AREA.
UH, IF YOU WERE TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL GROUNDS, UH, THAT'S RIGHT ON TOME ROAD, UM, JUST WEST OF LAMAR.
A LITTLE WAYS WHERE SOFTBALL FIELDS ARE THERE.
UH, WE ALLOW THE OPERATORS TO, UM, UH, SET UP SPACE.
UH, THEY HAVE PERSONNEL AND TENTS AND WHATNOT TO COLLECT THE SCOOTERS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, UH, CLEAN AND ORDERLY REALLY.
YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IF WE ALLOWED NATURE TO TAKE ITS COURSE AND PEOPLE JUST ARRIVED TO THE FESTIVAL GROUNDS TO TOZIER, IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE MADNESS.
SO THIS WORKS OUT REALLY WELL.
UM, UH, THE OPERATORS ARE SUPER EAGER TO, TO HELP OUT WITH THAT.
AND, UH, AND MY TEAM LIKES TO PATROL AROUND DURING THAT TIME AND SEE ANY AREAS THAT FOLKS AREN'T, UM, I GUESS COMPLYING WITH THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
YOU'LL SEE LITTLE POCKETS WHERE PEOPLE WILL KIND OF TRY TO END TRIPS.
SO, SO WE HELP KEEP UP WITH THAT AND WE'LL GET TO HOW WE COORDINATE WITH IT.
THE OPERATORS A LITTLE BIT LATER ON.
UH, SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, THESE ARE, UM, UH, 24 NUMBERS.
WE SAW 142,000 TOTAL TRIPS FOR THE WEEK.
UH, AND, UH, MEDIAN TRIPS PER DAY WAS, WAS, UH, 16,000 AND A HALF ESSENTIALLY.
UM, SO, UM, WE'VE SEEN A LITTLE BIT OF A DECLINE IN OVERALL TRIPS OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS.
UM, BUT BOTH OF THE OPERATORS, UM, WERE VERY, VERY EXCITED.
AND SO THEY SAW RECORD NUMBERS DURING SOUTH BY, UM, NOW IS THAT A PRODUCT OF THERE BEING LESS COMPETITION? I DON'T KNOW, BUT YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY WERE VERY, VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE NUMBERS OF TRIPS THEY SAW DURING SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST THIS YEAR.
SO, UH, YEAH, I'LL KICK IT OFF TO JOSEPH FOR SOME REGULATORY BACKGROUND.
SO, UH, JUST A QUICK, JUST A QUICK UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE OUR FRAMEWORK FOR AUTHORITY
[01:45:01]
AND REGULATION COMES FROM, UH, 2018, BETWEEN 19, OF COURSE, WE KNOW THE SCOOTERS CAME IN TOWN.UH, WE DO HAVE, UH, A TEXAS TRANSPORTATION CODE THAT OUTLINES, YOU KNOW, WHAT A CURRENT E-BIKE IS AND, AND AS WELL AS MOPEDS AND WHAT A VEHICLE IS.
UM, AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE OUR CODE, UH, 14 NINE, WHICH OUTLINES OUR AUTHORITY AS A DEPARTMENT TO BE ABLE TO AUTHORIZE OPERATIONAL LICENSES, UM, AND GIVES US, UH, AN IDEA OF WHAT PLACEMENT PLANS LOOK LIKE.
UM, IT ALSO ALLOWS, UH, OUR DIRECTOR TO BE ABLE TO, UH, INITIATE DIRECTOR'S RULES AND IMPLEMENT DIRECTOR'S RULES THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
UM, AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE, UH, TITLE 12, WHICH IS EITHER, UH, TRAFFICKING ENFORCEMENT.
WE DO 12 S TWO, WHICH MANY PEOPLE PREFER TO AS THE SAFE RIDE ORDINANCE, UM, WHICH IS MAINLY ENFORCED BY AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND THEN OUR DIRECTOR'S RULES FOR DEPLOYMENT AND OPERATION OF SHARED SMALL VEHICLE MOBILITY SYSTEMS, UH, WHICH IS, UH, WERE SET AS AN EMERGENCY RULE BACK IN 20 18, 20 19, AND SET, UH, AS A, UH, PERMANENT, UM, RULE IN 2019.
UM, AND WE'RE CURRENTLY REVIEWING THOSE, UH, AT THE MOMENT.
UH, WE HAVE, UH, CITY APPROVED FEES RIGHT NOW WITH, UH, OUR LICENSE FEES IS 1500 PER YEAR.
WE SPLIT THAT UP INTO TWO TIMES SIX MONTH INCREMENTS.
UH, WE HAVE RENEWAL PERIODS, UH, IN JUNE AND DECEMBER OF EVERY YEAR.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE THEIR $80 PER DEVICE PER YEAR PERMIT FEE, UM, AS WELL AS A 15 CENT PER TRIP FEE, WHICH WE, WE, UH, INVOICE IT MONTHLY.
UM, AND I'LL GO ON TO THE NEXT, ALL RIGHT, PING, PING BACK TO ME.
UH, OPERATIONAL POLICIES AND DATA COLLECTION.
UM, SO DATA COLLECTION IS OBVIOUSLY REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT FOR WHAT WE DO, UM, HOW WE SET POLICY, HOW WE, HOW WE MANAGE THE SYSTEM AND, AND ALL THAT.
UM, SO A LITTLE OVERVIEW OF HOW THAT DATA IS COLLECTED.
UM, ALL THE OPERATORS ARE REQUIRED TO, UH, PROVIDE DATA VIA API FEED UTILIZING THE, UH, MOBILITY DATA SPECIFICATION.
UM, WE PARTNER WITH A, UH, A THIRD PARTY AGGREGATOR CALLED RIDE REPORT, UM, WHICH ALLOWS US TO REALLY SEE IN ALMOST REAL TIME EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE SYSTEM.
WE CAN, WE CAN LOOK AT A MAP AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT AND SEE THE LOCATION OF EVERY SCOOTER WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
EVERY ACTIVE SCOOTER WITHIN THE SYSTEM, UH, THAT OBVIOUSLY HAS A BATTERY AND IS REPORTING
UM, IT'S A REALLY, REALLY FANTASTIC TOOL.
UH, WE'RE ABLE TO, TO, TO GET A LOT OF, UH, UM, DATA FROM THAT.
UH, UM, WE CAN, OBVIOUSLY TRIP DATA IS, IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT, BUT, UM, WE'RE ABLE TO CREATE THESE BOUNDARIES AND DETERMINE EXACTLY HOW MANY, UH, DEVICES ARE OPERATING WITHIN, WITHIN A GIVEN AREA.
YOU KNOW, UH, FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE, UH, A FLEET CAP WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PROJECT COORDINATION ZONE, AND WE'RE ABLE TO MONITOR THAT ON A DAILY BASIS TO SEE IF THEY'RE EXCEEDING THAT AND WE CAN REACH OUT TO THEM AND, AND, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, PING THEM AND TELL THEM THEY NEED TO CLEAN UP THE DEVICES OR WHATNOT.
WE OBVIOUSLY GIVE THEM A LITTLE BIT OF LEEWAY BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL RIDE IN AND OUT OF DOWNTOWN WHEN THEY'RE COMMUTING AND WHATNOT.
SO WE WANT TO, TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF FLEXIBILITY RIGHT THERE.
UM, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, TO THE RIGHT, THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE CHARTS THAT WE CAN GET THAT'S JUST TRIPS BY DAY, UM, FOR OUR TWO OPERATORS OVER THE YEAR OF 2023.
UM, WE ALSO GET SOME REALLY, REALLY VALUABLE DATA ABOUT, UM, UH, HEAT MAPS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE TRIPS ARE HAPPENING, UH, THE, THE, THE MAIN AREAS, THE MAIN CORRIDORS THAT PEOPLE ARE UTILIZING, THE DEVICES, WHAT ALL THAT, ALL THAT GOOD STUFF.
UH, CURB EVENTS IS ANOTHER GREAT THING.
SO WE NEED TRIP STARTS, TRIP ENDS, DEPLOYMENTS, WE CAN CHECK OUT THOSE KIND OF THINGS.
UM, WHICH, WHICH WE'LL SEE LATER ON, UH, IS INVALUABLE DATA FOR DETERMINING, UH, PARKING BOXES OR CORRALS OR ANY OF THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, SO YEAH, RIDE REPORT'S A REALLY, REALLY INVALUABLE TOOL FOR WHAT WE DO.
UM, SO WE'LL GET ONTO TO THE SMALLER BOX.
HOW, HOW TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS, MONITORS ENFORCEMENT, UH, THIRD PARTY DATA MANAGEMENT THROUGH RIDE REPORT, UH, GEOFENCING DEVICE PERFORMANCE RESTRICTIONS.
UH, THAT'S OUR, THAT'S PROBABLY OUR BIGGEST TOOL.
UM, YOU KNOW, UH, PART OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T WANT SCOOTERS RIDING THROUGH ZILKER PARK.
SO, SO FOR INSTANCE, WE WILL CREATE GEOFENCING FOR, FOR ALL OF ALL, ALL PARKLAND WITHIN THE CITY.
UM, THAT'S, UM, GIVEN TO THE OPERATORS AND IT'S, IT'S, IT'S THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT THAT'S GEOFENCE.
SO WHEN YOU RIDE A SCOOTER AND YOU'RE GOING ONTO PARKLAND, IT WILL START BEEPING AT YOU AND TELL YOU, HEY, I'M STOPPING SOON AND NOT LET YOU GET ON THERE.
UM, DEVICE PERFORMANCE RESTRICTIONS, WE'LL GET TO THAT A LITTLE BIT LATER.
WE CAN, WE CAN, UH, KIND OF THROTTLE DEVICES.
YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW THE SPEED LIMIT'S 15 MILES AN HOUR, BUT IF WE DETERMINE THERE'S AN AREA WHERE WE WANT TO GO LOWER THAN THAT, WE CAN, UH, THROTTLE THAT WITH THE SAME KIND OF GEO-FENCING TECHNOLOGY.
UM, OUR, OUR MAIN ARM FOR ENFORCEMENT IS, UM, WITH OUR PARKING ENFORCEMENT FOLKS, UM, OUR PARKING ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, WHEN THEY'RE OUT MAKING THEIR NORMAL ROUNDS, THEY WILL REPORT BACK TO THE
[01:50:01]
OPERATORS IF THEY SEE ANY, UH, DEVICES THAT ARE IMPROPERLY PARKED OR ARE CREATING OBSTRUCTIONS OR THAT SORT OF THING.UM, CURRENTLY THEY'RE USING, USING THE 3 1 1 SYSTEM.
UM, IT WORKS FINE, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE QUICKLY MIGRATING AWAY FROM THAT.
WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE, UH, THAT SYSTEM COME FULLY, UH, INTERNAL.
UM, 'CAUSE I THINK IT'LL BE, YOU KNOW, BETTER UTILIZATION OF THE 3 1 1 SYSTEM, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE THAT'S MEANT FOR CITIZENS.
UM, BUT CURRENT STATE, THE WAY THAT OPERATES IS A PARKING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER SEES A DEVICE THAT'S PARKED INCORRECTLY.
UM, THEY WILL CREATE A CSR WITHIN 3 1 1 SYSTEM, TAKE A PICTURE OF THE DEVICE OPERATORS ARE NOTIFIED AND GIVEN TWO HOURS TO COME BACK AND, AND REMOVE THE DEVICE, OR THEY WILL GO BACK AND IMPOUND IT.
UM, THEY DO DIRECT IMPOUNDS ON DEVICES THAT ARE CAUSING, UH, UH, HAZARDS, YOU KNOW, AND, AND BLOCKING A DA EXCESS, ANY OF THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, SO YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S THE, OUR, OUR PRIMARY MEANS OF ENFORCEMENT.
UM, WE, WE AUDIT THOSE CSR RESPONSES REGULARLY TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE KEEPING UP WITH THAT.
AND THEY DO, THEY DO A REALLY GREAT JOB OF DISPATCHING THAT.
WE'LL DO SOME, UH, UM, SORT OF FIELD TESTS, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, TO, TO, AND, AND SUBMIT CSRS OURSELVES TO ENSURE THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY GOING OUT AND TAKING CARE OF THE, THE ISSUES THAT WERE REPORTED.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, UM, WE'RE PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT.
WE'RE, WE'RE FINALIZING THE PROCESS FOR THAT, FOR US TO GO OUT AND RANDOMLY AUDIT DEVICES AND ENSURE THAT THEY ARE, UH, MEETING EVERYTHING THAT'S IN THE DIRECTOR'S RULES FOR THEM TO BE OPERATING, MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE SAFE.
UM, UM, YEAH, LIKE I SAID, THE PROCESS IS ALMOST COMPLETED ON THAT.
UH, AND GOING BACK TO EVENTS, WE USE A, WE USE A SHARED COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL, AKA SLACK, UM, THAT THE OPERATORS ARE ON
UH, IT'S, IT'S REALLY, REALLY INVALUABLE FOR THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, EVEN THERE WAS A SITUATION WHERE, UM, FORMULA ONE PARKING WAS HAPPENING A FEW MONTHS AGO, AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET SOMEONE INVOLVED WITH FORMULA ONE AND ALLOW THEM ACCESS TO THE SLACK CHANNEL.
'CAUSE THEY WERE ON SITE AND THEY WERE COMMUNICATING ISSUES DIRECTLY TO THE OPERATORS, AND THEY WERE PICKING 'EM UP LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S A REALLY, REALLY QUICK STRIKE WAY FOR US TO TAKE CARE OF ISSUES.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE, WE SEE A LOT OF DEVICES LAYING DOWN HERE AT CITY HALL, WE CAN, WE CAN HIT UP SLACK AND SAY, Y'ALL NEED TO GET THERE AND CLEAN THESE THINGS UP QUICKLY.
UM, YEAH, AND ENFORCE AND RESULTS OF ENFORCEMENT, OF DIRECTORS RULES, OBVIOUSLY IMPOUNDS, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S THE BIG ONE.
UH, REDUCTION IN SERVICE IF NECESSARY.
THERE WAS AN ISSUE WHERE AN OPERATOR, UH, DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF AN, UH, A, A PRETTY DRAMATIC ISSUE THAT WAS REPORTED VIA A 3 1 1, AND IT WAS BEFORE MY TIME, BUT, YOU KNOW, JOSEPH CAN ATTEST THAT, THAT WE SHUT THEM DOWN FOR AN ENTIRE WEEKEND AND MADE THEM CEASE OPERATIONS FOR 48 HOURS.
UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WORST CASE SCENARIO DELAY, DENIAL OF LICENSE AND, OR, UH, DEVICE PERMITS.
RECENT PROGRAM UPDATES, UH, LICENSE AND PERMIT CHANGES.
UM, UH, THE FIRST CHANGE IS MAINTAIN THE NUMBER OF LICENSED VENDORS AT TWO THAT IS CURRENTLY ACTIVE.
UH, NO INCREASES TO DEVICE PERMITS FOR CURRENTLY LICENSED OPERATORS.
WE ARE IN THE, UH, JUNE RENEWAL, UH, PHASE AT THIS MOMENT AND, AND STAYING TRUE TO THAT.
AND, UH, MAINTAIN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PERMITTED DEVICES OR SCOOTERS AT 6,700, WHICH IS ACTIVE.
UM, WE WILL ALSO, UM, BE ALLOWING LYME THE OPPORTUNITY, WELL, ALLOWING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR LYME TO, TO PERMIT UP TO 300 E-BIKES IN THIS REMOVAL PROCESS AS WELL.
NEXT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE OPERATIONAL CHANGES.
UM, THE NEXT ONE WAS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF SCOOTERS ALLOWED TO OPERATE IN THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PROJECT CARRIER, UH, PROJECT COORDINATION ZONE, UM, TO 1,125.
UH, BEFORE THAT IT WAS AT 1500 PER PROVIDER.
THAT WAS WHEN WE ACTUALLY HAD THREE PROVIDERS.
UM, SO THAT'S BEEN REDUCED DOWN AND THAT IS CURRENTLY ACTIVE.
THEY DID THAT REALLY, UH, IMMEDIATELY.
UM, THE NEXT ONE IS REDUCED MAXIMUM SPEEDS FROM 15 MILES TO 10 MILES BETWEEN 10:00 PM AND FIVE, UH, AM DAILY.
UM, AND ASSIGN RESTRICTED AND DESIGNATED, UH, DEVICE STAGING AREAS AND REQUIRE REBALANCING DEVICE DEVICES TO STAY, UH, ASSIGN AREAS EACH MORNING.
UH, WE'RE CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS WITH THESE TWO.
THESE ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF, UH, PLANNING WORK AND DESIGN WORK THAT NEEDS TO GO WITH THESE AND COMMUNICATION WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING SOME INFORMATION ON, UM, DATA TO, TO MAKE THESE, THESE CHOICES.
SO WE'RE GONNA DIVE A LITTLE BIT DEEPER INTO THOSE TOO, JUST BECAUSE WE'RE STILL IN PROGRESS WITH THOSE.
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHERE WE'RE AT.
UM, SO WE'LL GO NEXT AND MIKE'S GONNA TAKE THIS ONE AND I'LL TAKE THE NEXT ONE.
UH, YEAH, MAXIMUM SPEED REDUCTION.
UH, UH, THIS IS WHERE WE'RE GOING TO THROTTLE THINGS, UM, FROM 15 MILES AN HOUR TO 10 MILES PER HOUR BETWEEN THE HOURS OF
[01:55:01]
10:00 PM AND 5:00 AM UM, FOCUSING ON THE, UH, ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS.UM, YOU KNOW, I I THINK ANECDOTALLY WE ALL KIND OF CAN GUESS WHERE THE AREAS THAT, THAT THIS MIGHT BE NECESSARY IS.
BUT WE'RE, UH, RIGHT NOW DIGGING DEEP INTO THE DATA TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE WE MAKE A, AN INFORMED DECISION OF WHERE WE DO THESE.
SO WE'RE ANALYZING, UH, THE TRIP DATA THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE NOW, UM, USING RIDE RIDE REPORT.
UM, UM, I ALSO RECEIVED SOME REALLY GOOD DATA FROM EN RICKS, WHICH IS THE NEW PARENT COMPANY TO RIDE REPORT.
UM, THAT IS, UH, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY, UH, VEHICLE BASED, SORT OF, SORT OF SIMILAR TO WHAT RIDE REPORT DOES, BUT VEHICLE BASED, UH, THEY GAVE US SOME REALLY GOOD INFORMATION ON, UM, UH, VEHICULAR TRIPS WITHIN, WITHIN THE DAFS E, UM, AREAS WHERE THEY'VE EXPERIENCED HARSH BRAKING COLLISIONS, UH, HIGH SPEED ZONES, THAT SORT OF THING.
UH, IT'S A, IT'S A REALLY, REALLY GREAT MAP AND I THINK IT'S GONNA BE REALLY HELPFUL FOR US DETERMINING WHAT THESE ARE.
UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE OBVIOUSLY WANT TO, UM, UH, DO THIS, BUT WE DON'T WANT IT TO BE PUNITIVE FOR THOSE THIRD SHIFT WORKERS WHO ARE USING THESE TO GET HOME FROM THEIR BAR SHIFT AND THAT SORT OF THING, YOU KNOW.
SO BASICALLY WE'RE GOING TO JUST BE DOING AS MUCH DATA ANALYSIS AS WE CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS AN INFORMED DECISION.
UH, IT WILL WORK WITH THE VENDORS ALSO TO, UH, ENSURE THAT THE, THE SLOW ZONES ARE GEO-FENCED AND INACTIVE.
AND, UH, ONCE AREAS FOR DEPLOYMENT ARE DETERMINED, OPERATORS WILL BE NOTIFIED AND REQUIRED TO CREATE GEO-FENCING TO ENSURE NEW SPEED LIMITS ARE MET.
NEXT UH, DESIGNATED STAGING AND PARKING AREAS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, JUST KIND OF GOING BACK, WE'VE, WE'VE ACTUALLY HAVE UP TO 25 PARKING BOXES ALREADY OUT WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN AREA OR NEAR THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
SOME OF THESE HAVE BEEN PUT IN, YOU KNOW, PARKING BOXES AS WELL AS COORDINATED CORRALS WITH OUR ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALSO NOW TAKING THE UTILIZED RIDE REPORT DATA ON CURB EVENTS, AND SO TRIPS, STARS AND TRIP ENDS.
I ALSO WANT TO KIND OF DELINEATE THE TWO BETWEEN STAGING AREAS AND PARKING.
AS WE KNOW, WE START, WE SEE, YOU KNOW, UH, STAR TRIPS AND INTERIMS ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
UM, SO STAGING AREAS ARE, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN WHERE PARKING ACTUALLY OCCURS.
UM, SO THESE ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'RE EVALUATING AND WORKING WITH, UH, OUR VENDORS TO UNDERSTAND MORE.
UM, WE ALSO ARE WORKING NOW TO GEOLOCATE ALL OF OUR BIKE RACKS.
WE DO HAVE A MAP FOR THAT AND, AND LAYING THAT OVER TO SEE UNDERSTANDING WHERE START AND END TRIPS OCCUR.
SO WE CAN IDENTIFY ENHANCEMENTS TO CURRENT BIKE CORRALS, UM, TO ALLOW FOR A ADDITIONAL USE OF THOSE FOR MICRO MOBILITY.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, IDENTIFY CURB SPACE TO USE FOR CORRALS TO HELP ADDRESS PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ON SIDEWALKS, UM, LIKE ON ON CONGRESS AVENUE.
LOOKING ON OUR SIDE STREETS TO DETERMINE IF WE HAVE SPACE AVAILABLE ON CURB TO, UM, PUT THOSE ON THE STREET RATHER THAN ON THE SIDEWALK.
UM, WE'RE GONNA GET AN IDEA OF WHAT REBALANCING OF DEVICES LOOK LIKE.
I THINK THIS IS MORE OF A PHASED APPROACH, WORKING WITH THE PROVIDERS, UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE'S A LARGE AREA TO, TO WORK WITH, UM, STARTING WITH OUR DOWNTOWN CORE AND THEN WORKING OUR WAY OUT.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, WE'LL BE, YOU KNOW, RELEASING A SURVEY.
THIS IS MORE OF AN ONGOING FEEDBACK SURVEY, UM, TO DETERMINE WHERE WE NEED, UH, THE PUBLIC IS, UH, IDENTIFYING NEED FOR PARKING LOCATIONS, AS WELL AS CONCERNS WITH MICRO MOBILITY.
WE ALREADY DO THAT WITH 3 1 1.
UM, BUT THIS WILL EXPAND THAT.
UH, AND ADDITIONALLY WE'LL BE RELEASING A SURVEY THAT WE DID BACK IN 2018 TO GATHER FEEDBACK ON THE MICRO ABILITY PROGRAM AS A WHOLE.
SO THESE WILL KIND OF BE AS TWO APART, UH, SURVEYS AS WE GO OUT.
AGAIN, I THINK IT'S, IT'S GOOD TO NOTE THAT, UM, WE ARE LOOKING AT DATA AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE BEST PLACES FOR DOCKLESS DEVICES.
AS WE KNOW, DOCKLESS IN NATURE CAN BE VERY TRANSIENT.
WE HAVE VERY, YOU KNOW, FINE TUNED POINTS OF CONGREGATION, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS.
I'VE BEEN DOING THIS SINCE 2019 WHEN I TOOK OVER THE PROGRAM.
I'VE INSTALLED PARKING BOX LOCATIONS, CORRALS THAT NEVER GOT USED, THEN HOW TO RELOCATE THEM.
UM, SO I THINK AS WE START TO DO THIS MORE STRATEGICALLY, USING DATA THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US NOW, AS WELL AS PUBLIC FEEDBACK WILL GIVE US A BETTER INFORMED DECISION AS WE MOVE FORWARD TO MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES FOR CORRALS.
NEXT, UM, WILL BE JUST NEXT STEP.
SO REALLY FOCUSING, UH, THIS, UH, THIS MONTH ON COLLECTING THE FEEDBACK FROM THE PUBLIC.
YOU KNOW, REALLY INTERESTED IN THAT, THAT SURVEY, AGAIN, LIKE I SAID, IT'S GONNA BE AN ONGOING SURVEY.
IT'S, IT'S INTENDED TO GET THIS FEEDBACK AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, AND WE'LL START INSTALLING PARKING BOXES AT NO, UH, HOTPOT, UH, HOTSPOT LOCATIONS.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE, I WOULD SAY ABOUT 15 TO 20, UH, LOCATIONS ALREADY IDENTIFIED THAT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH AND WORKING WITH OUR ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT TO OUR DIVISION TO, TO GET SOME HELP TO, UH, DESIGN AND, AND, AND PUT THOSE INTO PLACE.
UM, AND WE'LL START SETTING UP THE TEST AND SLOW ZONES IN DOWNTOWN IN JUNE AND JULY.
THAT IS OUR GOAL, UM, TO MEET TO THAT.
I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DO CURRENTLY HAVE A SOMEWHAT SAFETY ZONE SET UP ON, ON EAST
[02:00:01]
SIXTH STREET ON THURSDAY, FRIDAY, AND SATURDAY.UH, IT'S A NO RIDE ZONE, UH, FLOW ZONE, UH, DUE TO THE, THE SAFETY CLOSURE.
UM, SO WE'LL BE EXPANDING UPON THAT FIRST AND TRYING TO LEARN ABOUT HOW WE CAN USE THAT AS AN IDENTIFIED PILOT TO, TO SEE HOW THIS WORKS AND THEN EXPAND OUT AND INTO THE FUTURE.
UM, AND THEN OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, I THINK IT'S CRUCIAL TO NOTE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON, UM, CHANGES IN EDITS TO THE DIRECTOR'S RULES THAT WERE, YOU KNOW, MADE PERMANENT IN 2019.
AS YOU KNOW, MICRO MOBILITY, THE SHARE MOBILITY DOCKLESS PROGRAMS AROUND THE NATION HAVE EVOLVED AND CHANGED OVER TIME.
WE KNOW THOSE RULES AGAIN, HAVE CHANGED THAT THE, THE, UH, THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE IS VERY DYNAMIC.
UM, SO WE ARE READY TO MAKE THOSE CHANGES.
THE, THESE, THESE FIRST INITIAL STEPS THAT OUR DIRECTOR HAS ASKED THE, UH, VENDORS TO PUT IN PLACE IS A WAY FOR US TO EVALUATE THE, THE BIGGER PARTS OF SAFETY AND UNDERSTAND WHAT WE NEED TO DO WITH DEVICE NEEDS, UH, AS WELL AS SATURATION, UM, AND ENSURING THAT WE CREATE A SAFE PLACE FOR OUR PEDESTRIANS TO WALK AROUND TOWN.
UM, AND SO WE'LL REVIEW WHAT WE'VE DONE HERE THAT, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THIS SIX MONTH CYCLE, UH, AS WELL AS WORK ON THOSE RULES AND, AND THE PROCESS TO DO THAT, WHICH IS OUTLINED WITHIN OUR ORDINANCES.
UM, SO, UM, COMMISSIONERS, AGAIN, I WANNA RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE, UH, A RECOMMENDATION THAT I THINK WE'LL HAVE A MOTION BEFORE TOO LONG, BUT I ACTUALLY WANNA OFFER A MOMENT HERE.
IF YOU HAD A QUESTIONS THAT DIRECTLY RELATE TO THE CONTENT OF THE PRESENTATION THAT WE JUST HEARD, WE CAN TAKE UP THOSE QUESTIONS, UH, UH, BRIEFLY HERE BEFORE WE MOVE TO DISCUSSION OF THE RECOMMENDATION.
I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD TO GET JUST THOSE CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENTATION OUTTA THE WAY.
SO IF ANYONE HAS QUESTIONS FOR OUR PRESENTERS ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THEIR PRESENTATION, THIS WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FOR THAT.
IF YOU CAN'T TELL, THIS IS MY FIRST TIME HERE.
UM, AND YES, PLEASE ASK YOUR QUESTION,
UM, THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU MENTIONED, UM, I JUST WANNA CLARIFY, YOU SAID A COUPLE TIMES, UH, DATA AVAILABLE TO YOU ABOUT, UM, UH, STAGING AREAS VERSUS PARKING AREAS, UM, AND PEOPLE GOING IN AND OUT OF IT.
HOW LONG HAS, HAS THAT DATA BEEN AVAILABLE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THESE VENDORS BEING IN, UH, LICENSED IN IN TOWN? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
WE'VE WORKED, YOU KNOW, WITH, UM, THE COMPANIES TO, TO IMPLEMENT WHAT WE, IT'S CALLED THE MOBILITY DATA SPECIFICATION OR MDS FOR SHORT, UHHUH
NOW, OVER THAT COURSE, UH, PROBABLY SAY WITHIN THE LAST YEAR OR SO, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO BACKDATE SOME OF THE DATA THE BEST WE CAN, BUT IT'S NOT AS, AS GOOD DATA THAT WE HAVE MM-HMM.
UM, SO NOW WE HAVE SOMETHING WITHIN THE BACK OFFICE THAT ALLOWS US TO SEE CURB EVENTS, WHICH ALLOWS US TO SEE WHERE ACTUALLY POINT DATA FOR, UH, START AND TRIPS OCCUR.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, OVER THE TIME OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT, UH, DATA WAS AVAILABLE TO US, AND ESPECIALLY UNDERSTANDING THAT WE HAVE PII THAT WE HAVE TO WORK WITH IS, YEAH, WE HAD TO ENSURE THAT WHATEVER THE THIRD PARTY DATA MANAGEMENT COMPANY WAS DOING MET THOSE GOALS.
UM, SO NOW THAT WE DO HAVE THAT DATA, WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE MORE INFORMED DECISIONS ON IT.
SO IS IT A THIRD PARTY, UH, INTERMEDIARY OR IS IT SOMEWHERE THAT SAID API WITH THE VENDORS? OR IS IT BOTH? IT'S BOTH.
UH, SO WE, WE USED TO HAVE WHERE WE, WE TOOK THE DATA IN OURSELF.
UM, UH, WE, IT WAS ACTUALLY THREE WAYS WE TOOK IT.
WE HOUSED IT HERE, UM, IN INTERNALLY.
UM, WE THIRD, THE THIRD PARTY DATA, UH, COMPANY MANAGEMENT COMPANY THAT WE, WE HIRED TO, TO DO THAT AS WELL AS THE VENDORS WOULD SEND US A REPORT.
SO THERE WAS THREE WAYS THAT WE'D GET IT, THE RAW TWO PLACES FOR RAW DATA AND A REPORT.
UM, OVER TIME WITH SOME OF THE ISSUES WITH PII, WE DECIDED TO MOVE AWAY FROM THAT AND HIRE OUR THIRD PARTY COMPANY TO FOCUS ALL THE DATA.
SO WE USE THEM, THEY HAVE THE, THE APIS TO DO THAT.
SO WITH, WITH, UH, THE MOBILITY DATA SPECIFICATION, THEY HAVE SEPARATE APIS FOR LIKE TRIPS, UH, STATUSES, UM, AND OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT THAT REPORT BACK TO A DASHBOARD THAT WE'RE ABLE TO SEE INTERNALLY.
WE ALSO MADE THAT DASHBOARD PUBLIC.
SO THERE'S A PUBLIC DASHBOARD THAT YOU CAN GO LOOK AT FROM RIDE REPORT THAT ALLOWS YOU TO SEE THOSE TRIPS BY QUARTER, UM, AS WELL AS A GLOBAL MICRO MOBILITY DASHBOARD THAT THEY HAVE ALL THEIR CLIENTS ON THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY BENCHMARK AGAINST.
THAT WAS GONNA BE MY OTHER QUE SO IT'S CALLED RIDE REPORT.
THEY'RE THE, SO THEY CAN OBFUSCATE THE PII AND RIGHT.
SO THIS, SO THE DATA THAT WE DO HAVE GOES BACK TO WHEN, UH, SOMETIME IN 2019.
IT'S, IT'S, BUT THAT, I WOULD SAY FROM 2019 TO 2020, THAT DATA WAS BACK FILTERED.
SO WE DON'T KNOW IF IT, I MEAN, IT'S PRETTY
[02:05:01]
GOOD, BUT IT'S, I WOULDN'T SAY IT'S THE BEST AS WE DO HAVE TODAY.SO 21 TO PRESENT IS PRETTY ACCURATE.
UH, HOW LONG HAS RIDE REPORT BEEN THE, THIS VENDOR? UH, THEY'VE BEEN IN SINCE I TOOK OVER IN 2019.
UM, BEFORE THAT, THEY WERE A DIFFERENT COMPANY, UH, RIDE REPORT, BUT THEY FOCUSED ON, ON BIKE, UH, TRIPS.
THEY DID, UH, LIKE, UM, THEY HAD A BIKE APP, BUT IT WASN'T FOCUSED FOR SHARED MOBILITY.
UM, I MIGHT HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION, BUT I'LL WAIT AND SEE IF NO ONE ELSE DOES.
US, UH, COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DESIGNATED STAGING PARKING AREAS.
ALSO, I DO WANNA START BY SAYING, UH, I, I'VE TALKED A LOT WITH, UH, LYMAN BIRD, UH, OVER THE LAST MONTH, AND THEY BOTH HAD EXCEPTIONAL THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE TEAM, AND SPECIFICALLY JOSEPH.
UH, AND AS SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED WITH THEM BEFORE, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO PLEASE THEM FROM THE GOVERNMENT SIDE.
SO THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE GREAT THINGS TO SAY IS, UH, UH, DEFINITELY A TESTAMENT TO YOUR GREAT WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM.
UM, SO AS, AS I RECALL DURING THE, UH, MOBILITY COMMITTEE PRESENTATION, UH, DIRECTOR MENDOZA WAS TALKING ABOUT THE DESIGNATED STAGING AND PARKING AREAS, AND COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE TALKED ABOUT, HEY, ARE WE GONNA DO STREET CORRALS FOR THIS? OR IS IT GOING TO BE OFF STREET? AND AS I RECALL, THE ANSWER WAS MOSTLY OFF STREET, OR AT LEAST WE WEREN'T GONNA DO STREET CORRALS BECAUSE THE COST FOR THOSE WAS 1.2 MILLION, I THINK WAS THE FIGURE THAT WAS CITED.
UM, IN ORDER TO DO ALL THE ONES WE NEED.
THIS THEN SAYS, THIS PRESENTATION SAYS THESE WILL BE ON STREET.
UM, WAS THAT A CHANGE OR DID I MISUNDERSTAND THE TESTIMONY THERE? NO, THAT'S NOT A CHANGE.
I, I, IT MAYBE JUST TERMINOLOGY BASED.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WHEN I SPEAK TO CORRALS, WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT WE DO CURRENTLY WITH LIKE INVERTED VIEWS THAT WE PUT OUT THERE.
UM, WHEN WE WERE SPEAKING TO THE, THE HIGH DOLLAR AMOUNT FOR CORRALLING, UH, THAT WAS MORE, UM, UH, HARD SCALED INFRASTRUCTURE THAT YOU'D GET FROM A COMPANY, RIGHT.
THAT, SO THOSE ARE A LOT MORE COSTLY.
UM, AND SO WE WERE LOOKING AT THOSE THINGS AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT IS ABILITY TO PUT ON STREET, UM, AND WE REVERTED TO USING A MORE COSTLY, UH, LESS COSTLY DESIGN METHOD WITH USING INVERTED USED AS A CORRAL, IF YOU WILL, UM, TO DO THAT INSTEAD.
UH, WHICH ALLOWS US TO SCALE OUT A LOT FASTER TO GET THESE ON STREET AS FAST AS WE CAN.
SO AT LEAST, LIKE WHAT, YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF THAT EXISTING PARKING BOX RIGHT THERE, AND, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THIS IS SEMANTICS, IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER.
BUT WHAT I WOULD SEE IN YOUR, AS YOUR PARKING BOX, RIGHT, THAT MATCHES UP PRETTY CLOSELY WITH, IF YOU READ THE NTA REPORT, WHAT THEY CALL A CORRAL, LIKE, WHAT, WHAT IS IT THAT YOU SEE IN A CORRAL THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THAT PICTURE IS YOU HAVE HERE? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
I THINK WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT THE, THE CORRAL FOR INSTANCE, WAS MORE, UH, UH, UNIFIED, UM, VERTICAL ELEMENT, RIGHT? SO IT'S BASICALLY YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC LONG PIPE GOES AROUND, AND IT'S ONE PIECE THAT YOU COULD HAVE A PLANTER BOX, IT COULD HAVE THOSE THINGS.
UM, WHERE THIS IS USING, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, DEVICES, TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES THAT ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE TO US, YOU KNOW, DELINEATORS, PA, PAVEMENT MARKINGS, RUBBER STOPS, UM, TO BE ABLE TO RECREATE WHAT A UNIFIED CORRAL WOULD LOOK LIKE RATHER THAN, UH, SPEND THE, THE MONEY TO DO THAT.
SO THIS IS A WAY TO GET IT OUT THERE.
AND LIKE I SAID IN MY TESTIMONY, IT'S KIND OF, WE'VE, WHEN I'VE PUT THESE OUT BEFORE, WE'VE HAD ISSUES WHERE THEY DON'T USE THEM AT ALL.
UM, THIS WAY ALLOWS US TO ACTUALLY TEST OUT, GET OUT THERE, SEE HOW THEY'RE WORKING, AND AS MANY PLACES WE CAN.
AND IF THEY DO WORK OUT, THEN WE CAN WORK WITH THE COMPANIES TO IDENTIFY HOW WE PUT IN MORE, UH, UNIFIED COR CROWLING IN THE FUTURE.
SO IF I CAN MAKE THIS ANALOGOUS TO SOMETHING ELSE, RIGHT.
ON THE BIKE PLAN, WE TALKED ABOUT QUICK BUILD STRATEGIES VERSUS FULL BUILD STRATEGIES WHERE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A PARKING BOX IS MORE OF A QUICK BUILD STRATEGY FOR THIS IN A, IN A CORRAL WOULD BE A FULL BUILD THAT'S MORE PERMANENT AND BUILT OUT.
UM, AND THEN THE SECOND QUESTION I HAVE ON THAT IS, SO, UM, YOU DO TALK ABOUT RESTRICTING USING GPS TO RESTRICT PARKING.
WHERE POSSIBLE, UM, IN HERE, DO, DO YOU GUYS SEE NEEDING A CODE CHANGE FOR THAT? BECAUSE AS I READ THE CODE, RIGHT, SECTION 12 5 15 PARKING, RIGHT, IT LISTS ALL THE PLACES.
YOU CANNOT PARK A MICRO MOBILITY DEVICE, AND AT THE END IT SAYS A PERSON'S CHILD PARK MICRO MOBILITY DEVICE IN ONE, A DESIGNATED PARKING SPACE, OR IN A MANNER THAT DOES NOT DISRUPT PEDESTRIANS OR, UH, A DA ACCESSIBILITY OR TRESPASSING PRIVATE PROPERTY.
I SEE THAT AS GIVING AN OPTION, RIGHT? YOU CAN EITHER PARK IN THAT DESIGNATED PARKING SPOT, OR IF YOU FIND A PLACE THAT DOESN'T OBSTRUCT ALL THIS, THAT IS FINE TOO.
WOULDN'T RESTRICTING IT TO THAT ONE SPOT TAKE AWAY THAT SECOND OPTION THAT CITY CODE PROVIDES? NO, I DON'T THINK SO.
I, I THINK THE, THE CODE CURRENTLY PROVIDES US IN, IN OUR DIRECTOR THE ABILITY TO, YOU KNOW, IDENTIFY AREAS BASED OFF NEED.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE START TO, UH, RESTRICT PARKING CERTAIN LOCA, CERTAIN LOCATIONS, MAINLY FOR, UH, SITUATIONS WHERE WE WOULD
[02:10:01]
LIKE IT, IT PRESENTS A SAFETY HAZARD, RIGHT? UM, WE WE'RE WORKING WITH THE PROVIDERS OR THE VENDORS, I'M SORRY, UM, TO IDENTIFY NO PARKING AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL.SO IT'D BE, YOU KNOW, EVERY, EVERYWHERE ELSE THAT WE WOULD WANT, NOT PARKING TO OCCUR, IT, IT WOULD BE CONSIDERED TO BE NO PARKING.
AND WHERE WE WANT PARKING TO OCCUR, IT'D BE OPEN.
SO IF YOU DO THAT AS A GEOFENCE, IT REALLY FOCUSES THE POINT WHERE WE WANT PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY PARK.
RIGHT NOW, IT'S JUST FOCUSED ON LIKE AREAS WHERE WE DON'T WANT THEM TO BE.
UNLIKE THE SMALL AREAS WHERE THIS WOULD BE AN OVERLAY IN THE FUTURE.
SO LIKE IF YOU, FOR INSTANCE, EVERYWHERE WOULD BE A NO PARKING GEOFENCE EXCEPT FOR THESE LITTLE POCKETS WHERE WE WOULD WANT PEOPLE TO PARK.
THAT'S HOW THEY'RE STARTING TO LOOK AT IT.
UM, SO LIKE ON SIDE STREETS, YOU'D HAVE A PARKING CORRAL, THAT'S WHERE YOU DON'T PARKING.
ONCE YOU GET TO A LOCATION, THE DEVICE WOULD TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T PARK HERE, BUT THERE'S ONE HERE NEARBY, AND YOU'D KEEP ON WALKING TO IT.
ARE YOU GUYS THINKING OF ANY MARKINGS TO MAKE THAT CLEAR? 'CAUSE YOU KNOW, I THINK WE, MOST OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS, RIGHT? IF YOU TRY TO BIKE TO UT'S CAMP, OR SORRY, UH, SCOOTER TO UT'S CAMPUS, RIGHT? THERE ARE SPECIFIC PLACES YOU HAVE TO PARK.
UM, LYME ON THEIR OWN HAS STARTED INSTITUTING THAT ON PLACES LIKE MLK BOULEVARD WHERE THERE AREN'T A LOT OF GOOD SPACES TO PARK.
AND, AND I'LL SAY FROM A USER PERSPECTIVE ON ME, RIGHT? LIKE, IT IS REALLY ANNOYING WHEN YOU GET TO A SPOT, YOU THINK YOU CAN PARK, YOU GO TO LOCK AND YOU'RE LIKE, UGH, I'VE GOTTA GO ALL THE WAY DOWN THIS HILL, TWO BLOCKS TO FIND THE SPOT.
OR JUST THINKING ABOUT VISUAL CUES SO RIDER CAN GET IN THERE.
YEAH, I THINK THAT'S A, THAT'S A GREAT POINT.
UM, I THINK THAT'S WHY GOING TO A MORE VERTICAL USE CORRAL IS IMPORTANT, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE USING INVERTED USE AND DELINEATORS, WHERE BEFORE THEY WERE JUST PARKING BOXES WHERE THEY WERE JUST PAVE MARKINGS.
UM, AND WE'RE ALSO, UM, ON THE LAST PAGE OF THE SLIDES, YOU'LL SEE A SIGN THAT WAS RECENTLY APPROVED THAT WE'LL BE ADDING TO THE LOCATION.
THEY'LL HAVE, UM, SOME INFORMATION ABOUT SAFETY AS WELL AS QR CODES FOR PEOPLE TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT OUR PROGRAM.
UM, BUT I THINK ALSO, YOU KNOW, IN ORDER TO USE A DEVICE, I WOULD SAY 99.9% OF PEOPLE HAVE TO HAVE A CELL PHONE, RIGHT? AND SO WE'RE WORKING WITH PROVIDERS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT TECHNOLOGY IS AVAILABLE FOR WAY FINDING, INCLUDING AUGMENTED REALITY, BEING ABLE TO POINT YOUR, YOUR DEVICE WHERE YOU NEED TO GO AND TELL YOU EXACTLY WHERE IT'S AT.
UM, THAT WOULD BE THE NEXT PHASE OF UNDERSTANDING IT.
WE CAN'T PUT SIGNS EVERYWHERE AND JUST WAIT, FINDING FOR VEHICLES AND OTHER THINGS PEDESTRIANS.
THINK ADDING ANOTHER PIECE OF THAT COULD BE A ROUGH ELEMENT, BUT WE ARE ALSO OPEN IN A MINUTE TO ADDING IN THOSE LOCATIONS THAT ARE NEEDED.
AND LAST THING I'LL SAY ON THIS, UM, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT VERTICAL CUES, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE, LIKE WASHINGTON DC IS, IS VERY BIG INTO THIS, WHERE THERE WILL BE NOT A SIGN, BUT LIKE ALMOST WHAT YOU WOULD SEE AT A TRANSIT STATION THAT'S, YOU KNOW, HAS A BIKE ICON AND A, A, A SCOOTER ICON, SO YOU HAVE A VISUAL CUE TO GO THERE.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR THE PRESENTERS ABOUT, UH, THE CONTENT OF THIS PRESENTATION? OKAY, YEAH.
UM, MY OTHER QUESTION WAS ABOUT THE MAXIMUM SPEED REDUCTION, AND SORRY IF I MISUNDERSTOOD THIS, BUT THE, UM, EFFORT TO REDUCE THE SPEED FROM 15 TO 10 MILES AN HOUR BETWEEN 10 AND FIVE, HAS THAT ALREADY BEEN DECIDED AS, AND IS IN, I UNDERSTAND WE'RE MAKING RECOMMENDATION REGARDING THAT, BUT I'M, I'M NOT SURE I'M CLEAR ON WHAT THE STATUS IS OF THE DECISION FOR THAT SPECIFIC, UH, REDUCTION IN THAT TIMEFRAME? YES.
THAT, THAT'S BEEN DECIDED ALREADY.
THAT WAS ACTUALLY WORKED ON WITH THE PROVIDERS OVER A TIMEFRAME BEFORE THE DECISIONS WERE MADE, UM, SUGGESTED BY SOME OF THE PROVIDERS IF THEY SEEN IN OTHER CITIES.
UM, THIS WAS, YOU KNOW, IN TALKS WITH, AT FIRST, LOOKING AT THE POTENTIAL OF HAVING SOME TYPE OF, UM, RESTRICTED PERIOD OF, OF, OF USER, RIGHT? UH, IF USE WOULD BE LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM LIKE 10:00 PM TO THE NEXT MORNING, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
SO THIS WAS A WAY FOR US TO REDUCE DOWN, UM, IN SOME OF THE MAIN AREAS, ESPECIALLY WHERE WE HAVE HIGH PEDESTRIAN USE MM-HMM.
SO A LOT OF THESE THINGS LIKE DATA POINTS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, ARE TRIPS THAT ARE LESS THAN 0.1 MILE PEOPLE ARE JUST STARTING THEM AND REALLY MOVING THEM DOWN THE ROAD TO SECOND JUST BECAUSE THEY WANT TO, YOU KNOW, USE A DEVICE.
WE'RE REALLY TARGETING THOSE THAT, YOU KNOW, USERS THAT REALLY NEED TO HAVE TO USE THE DEVICES.
SO THIS IS THIS FIRST, THIS IS GONNA BE A TEST, RIGHT? OKAY.
WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IT AS WE START TO SCALE OUT.
UM, BUT THE DECISION ITSELF FROM, YOU KNOW, 10:00 PM TO 5:00 AM UM, YOU KNOW, HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED.
AND WE'LL TEST THAT OUT AND EVALUATE OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
I MEAN, DID THE DATA SHOW THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF DRUNK SCOOTERING LEADING TO, YOU KNOW, INJURY, DEATH, ACCIDENTS, SAFETY ISSUES? IS THAT WHAT THE DATA'S SHOWING US? UM, I DON'T, I DON'T NECESSARILY THAT THE DATA SHOWS THAT THE DATA FOR, YOU KNOW, CRASHES AND, AND SITUATIONS FOR SAFETY, UM, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO SHARED MOBILITY IS VERY SPARSE.
I MEAN, IT, WE ARE TRYING TO GET THAT DATA MORE CLEARLY.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S NOT THERE.
WE'RE WORKING WITH VISION ZERO TEAM TO UNDERSTAND THAT MORE, UH, PARTIALLY SOME OF THE DATA THAT'S COMING IN IS COMMUNITY FEEDBACK, UM, AS WELL AS JUST SOME OF THE, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF TRIPS THAT ARE OCCURRING AT, AT TIMEFRAMES AT NIGHT, UM, AS WE SEE A RAMP UP IN THE EVENING.
[02:15:01]
ESPECIALLY, UM, USING THAT INFORMATION AND WHAT WE'VE SEEN FROM OTHER PARTNERING CITIES, UH, DECISION AND WORKING WITH THE VENDORS DECISION WAS MADE TO START THIS AND TRY IT OUT.YEAH, I MEAN, I DON'T HAVE A A STRONG FEELING ABOUT THE SPEED SCOOTERS SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T GO, BUT JUST, JUST POINTING OUT THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE SEE SO MANY, UM, PEDESTRIAN, UH, COLLISIONS WITH LIKE, THE, THE PROBLEM IS, IS THE SAFETY PROBLEM IS CARS, I THINK A LOT.
YOU KNOW, LIKE THAT'S THE BIG PROBLEM.
IF I'M GONNA GO DOWNTOWN, WHICH I DON'T GO DOWNTOWN AT NIGHT ANYMORE TOO MUCH, BUT MAYBE SOMEDAY IN MY LIFE WHEN I
UM, YOU KNOW, MY FEAR IS, IS GETTING HIT BY A CAR, YOU KNOW, NOT NECESSARILY, I DON'T KNOW, LIKE OBVIOUSLY WE SHOULDN'T DRUNK SCOOTER AND, YOU KNOW, VISIBILITY'S WORSE AT NIGHT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW, LIKE I, I'M ALL FOR SAFETY, BUT LIKE, I JUST, I, I REALLY WOULD LOVE TO UNDERSTAND IF IT WAS TRULY A DATABASE DECISION, SEEING LIKE, OKAY, WE'RE SEEING SO MANY MORE INJURIES ON SCOOTERS DOWNTOWN IN THE EVENING TO REALLY, TRULY UNDERSTAND THAT QUESTION, I THINK WOULD BE, WOULD BE HELPFUL AND, AND HELP MAKE THE ARGUMENT FOR WHY, UM, IF YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GONNA RESTRICT CARS TO 15 MILES PER HOUR DOWNTOWN AT NIGHT, I WOULD, I WOULD DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THAT.
SO, UM, BUT I DON'T THINK WE'RE, WE'RE NOT LIVING IN THAT WORLD.
IF, IF I MAY, RICHARD MENDOZA, UH, DIRECTOR FOR TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS REGARDING THE, THE, UH, SPEED REDUCTION.
UM, IT WAS ABOUT LAST, UH, LATE SUMMER, EARLY FALL.
I HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH SOME, UH, HEADS OF LOCAL EMERGENCY TRAUMA CENTERS.
AND, UH, THEY SHARED WITH ME THEIR OBSERVATIONS THAT MANY OF THE MORE SERIOUS INJURIES THAT HAD OCCURRED UTILIZING THESE DEVICES WERE HEAD TRAUMA AND THEY ALSO INVOLVED ALCOHOL.
AND SO ORIGINALLY, UM, DUE TO THE, DUE TO THAT INFORMATION I PROPOSED TO THE SCOOTER VENDORS, UH, JUST THE CARTE BLANCHE REDUCTION IN SPEED, UH, AROUND THE CLOCK.
UH, WE, I, WE MET WITH THEM, UH, I GUESS IT WAS LAST NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, AND, UH, GOT A LOT OF FEEDBACK.
AND, UH, I MADE SOME, A NUMBER OF ADJUSTMENTS TO SOME OF THESE, UH, REGULATORY, UH, CHANGES THAT I, I HAVE MADE.
ONE BEING, UM, THE TIMEFRAME AND ALSO THE AFFECTED AREA OF THE SPEED REDUCTION, NAMELY AROUND THE BARS.
AND LATE AT NIGHT, THEY DID SHARE WITH ME THAT I, I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT A NUMBER OF THE, UM, UH, UH, LATE NIGHT WORKERS RELY ON THESE DEVICES FOR THEIR COMMUTES.
SO THIS STILL ALLOWED THEM TO UTILIZE THE DEVICES FOR THEIR COMMUTES.
UM, ANOTHER, UM, RELAXATION I MADE WAS ON THE ORIGINAL REDUCTION IN OVERALL DEVICES.
I HAD, UM, LOOKED AT SOME OTHER CITIES AND, UH, I BELIEVE CITY OF DALLAS AT ONE TIME HAD PUT A MORATORIUM ON ALL SCOOTERS.
THEY ALLOWED 'EM BACK IN, UH, ONLY 500 DEVICES AT A TIME.
I DIDN'T LOOK AT SOME DOING SOMETHING THAT DRACONIAN UNDERSTANDING THAT WE'RE AUSTIN AND WE'RE DIFFERENT THAN DALLAS, OBVIOUSLY.
AND, UH, SO MY ORIGINAL REDUCTION WAS BY HALF TO 5,000 DEVICES.
UH, WE, WE TALKED AROUND THE TABLE.
SIMILARLY NUMBER OF DEVICES I'M ALLOWING IN THE DOWNTOWN SPACE.
I'VE, UH, ALLOWED, UH, UH, A MORE, A GREATER NUMBER THAN THE ORIGINAL.
UH, MY ORIGINAL INTENT WAS TO, UM, UH, TAKE AWAY ALL THE DOCK C BIKES 'CAUSE THEY'RE JUST MORE OBSTRUCTION TO THE RIGHT OF WAY AND A DA ACCESS.
UH, AND WE HAD ALSO JUST BEEN AWARDED A GRANT FROM THE STATE TO EXPAND OUR METRO BIKE SYSTEM, BUT THAT'S STILL ABOUT A YEAR AWAY.
SO THEY APPEAL TO ME TO KEEP THE DOCKLESS SEA BIKES, AND I'VE ALLOWED THAT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY, THIS IS FIRST AND FOREMOST A MATTER OF PUBLIC SAFETY.
ALSO PROTECTING A DA ACCESS AROUND OUR CITY, AND THEN JUST ALSO THE GENERAL APPEARANCE WHERE THESE THINGS SEEM TO BE CONGREGATING AND, AND, AND IN GREATER NUMBERS.
AND, AND, UM, THERE WAS A TERM SHARE WITH ME, SCOOTER POLLUTION.
SO I KNOW WE'RE ADDRESSING THESE FISHING, THESE THINGS OUTTA LADY BIRD LAKE.
UM, BUT, UH, MY COMMITMENT TO THE VENDORS IS TO WORK WITH THEM AND ALSO WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE'S OFFICE WHOSE DISTRICT, UH, EN ENCOMPASSES A GREAT USE OF THESE DEVICES, UH, TO ARRIVE AT A PLACE WHERE WE CAN, UH, PUT IN THESE REGULATIONS, GAUGE, COLLECT DATA ON THE EFFECTIVENESS TO HAVE AN IMPROVED QUALITY OF SERVICE AFTER SIX MONTHS.
WE CAN REVISIT THAT AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE CAN, UH, ENTERTAIN, UH, ADDITIONAL DEVICES AT, AT, UH, LATER TIME.
[02:20:01]
JUST WANTED YOU TO HEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS A, UH, AN OPEN PROCESS, ONE THAT I ENGAGED THE VENDORS IN.UM, I WAS ALSO CALLED UP TO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE THAT SHARED WITH ME SOME OF THE THINGS THEY WERE HEARING FROM THE VENDORS.
AND I SHARED WITH THEM, UH, SOME OF THE FEEDBACK AND, AND THE, UH, THE, THE DATA THAT I HAD BEEN, UH, PUTTING TOGETHER TO ARRIVE AT THESE DECISIONS.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME IN INCORPORATING THIS, UH, AGENDA ITEM TODAY.
SO, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE PRESENTATION? I'M WONDERING IF THIS IS THE MOMENT TO TRANSITION TO TALKING ABOUT, UH, THE POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION, BUT I WANNA HOLD SPACE FOR WHAT YOUR QUESTION WAS.
SO IS THE IDEA TO SORT OF GET A LITTLE BIT CON, UM, TO PLACE SOME LIMITS IN THE NEAR FUTURE WITH THE IDEA THAT AFTER WE HAVE DESIGNED SOME BETTER METHODS FOR, UM, KEEPING OUR RIGHTS OF WAY CLEAR OF SCOOTERS AND FIGURING OUT A BETTER METHOD FOR KEEPING EVERYBODY SAFE IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, THAT AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE WE MIGHT INCREASE THE NUMBER OF VENDORS AND DEVICES.
SO THE IDEA IS THAT IMMEDIATELY I CAN BETTER MANAGE THE USE OF THE AND PLACEMENT OF THESE DEVICES IN THE RIGHT OF WAY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BOTH A DA ACCESS, UNIMPEDED ACCESS TO BUSINESSES AND IMPACTS AND SAFETY TO THE USERS.
AND WITH THE COMMITMENT THAT WE'LL REVISIT THIS ON A RECURRING BASIS EVERY SIX MONTHS.
AND IF THE DATA SHOWS AND THE BUSINESS MODEL SHOWS THAT WE CAN INCORPORATE, UH, INCREASES IN THE NUMBER OF DEVICES AND STILL EFFECTIVELY MANAGE THOSE, THEN YES.
SO ARE YOU, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR QUESTION IS ABOUT THE, IS IT FOR DIRECTOR MENDOZA OR IS IT ABOUT THE PRESENTATION THAT WE HEARD? DIRECTOR MENDOZA.
I, I THINK WE CAN DO A BIT OF THAT.
I, I WANNA GET TO YOUR RECOMMENDATION AND BE ABLE TO SPEND SOME TIME ON IT.
SO, UM, ARE Y'ALL, ARE Y'ALL STAYING WITH US THROUGH THIS, UH, RECOMMENDATION THAT WE'RE GONNA TAKE UP HERE? OKAY, GREAT.
'CAUSE I THINK WE SHOULD, UM, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO NOW IS I, I THINK COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER'S GONNA MAKE A MOTION TO ABOUT HIS RECOMMENDATION.
AND ASSUMING WE GET A SECOND, WE'LL MOVE IN DISCUSSION OF THAT.
BUT I, I'D LIKE YOU TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WHY BEHIND YOUR RECOMMENDATION, UM, TO, TO KICK US OFF, SO, SURE.
SO I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION.
UM, SO I, I THINK I PROBABLY WANNA START WITH ADDRESSING ITS LENGTH.
UM, SO I, THIS WAS SOMETHING I WORKED A LOT WITH.
UM, I REACHED OUT A LOT OF PEOPLE.
I TALKED EXTENSIVELY WITH LYMAN BIRD.
UM, I TALKED TO A LOT OF MOBILITY ADVOCATES.
I TALKED, UH, SENT THIS OVER TO THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION.
UM, AND I ALSO TALKED TO SOME FOLKS AROUND COUNCIL AS WELL, UM, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE OUT OF THIS, UH, WHICH IS WHY, UM, IT IS, OH, AND I SHOULD ALSO MENTION OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED AS WELL.
UM, UH, AND I THINK THERE WILL BE SOME AMENDMENTS TO THOSE EFFECTS AS WELL.
UM, BUT THAT KIND OF EXPLAINS THIS LENGTH, IS THAT, UH, UH, THIS WAS, UH, UH, RECOMMENDATION BY COMMITTEE TO SOME EXTENT.
AND I AM SIMPLY THE FACE OF IT.
UM, WHAT I WILL SAY IS I THINK THIS RECOMMENDATION, UH, AIMS TO DO THREE THINGS.
ONE IS INCREASE THE TRANSPARENCY BY WHICH THIS PROCESS IS TAKING PLACE.
UH, THE SECOND IS TO BETTER ALIGN THESE ENHANCED REGULATIONS, UH, WITH THE GOALS THAT ARE LAID OUT IN THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN.
UM, AND THE THIRD IS TO WHERE WE CAN FOLLOW, UH, DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS AND NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS I THINK WE ALL WANT, WHICH ARE INCREASED MOBILITY, UM, RIGHT.
BETTER EQUITY, BETTER SAFETY, UM, AND PERHAPS EVEN ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I THINK I'LL, I'LL JUST KIND OF GO SECTION BY SECTION AND I'LL, I'LL TRY TO KEEP IT FAIRLY LIGHT, UM, AND THEN WE CAN GO INTO MORE DEPTH WHERE WE NEED TO.
UM, SO THE FIRST PART TALKS ABOUT, UH, THE, THE RULES THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THERE IS, RIGHT WHAT'S IN CITY CODE? THEN THERE ARE THE DIRECTOR'S RULES FOR SHARED MOBILITY.
UM, THESE WERE ENHANCED REGULATIONS WHICH WERE NOT INCORPORATED INTO THOSE RULES.
UM, I AM A LITTLE BIT OF A GOOD GOVERNANCE PURIST, AND I WILL SAY LAWS ARE LAWS, RULES ARE RULES.
ANYTHING THAT'S NOT A RULE IS NOT A RULE.
UM, IF WE ARE MAKING RULES THAT PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW, UH, THEY SHOULD BE INCORPORATED INTO THE RULEMAKING PROCESS.
UH, AND THEY SHOULD BE PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO ALSO, UH, UNDERSTAND.
AND THAT'S BEYOND JUST THE PEOPLE WHO THEY ARE AFFECTING IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL VENDORS, BUT RATHER THE COMMUNITY ITSELF.
I THINK THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WERE KIND OF TAKEN ABACK, UM, IN THE COMMUNITY BY WHAT
[02:25:01]
THEY HEARD AT THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING.UM, FELT LIKE IT KIND OF CAME OUTTA NOWHERE.
IT'S BEEN A PROCESS THAT'S BEEN GOING ON, JUST HASN'T BEEN A PROCESS THAT'S BEEN VISIBLE.
SO THAT'S THE FIRST PART OF IT, IS ASKING FOR IT TO GO THROUGH THE ACTUAL RULEMAKING PROCESS, CHANGES TO THE DIRECTOR'S RULES, EVEN IF THOSE ARE ONLY TEMPORARY RULES.
UH, THE SECOND IS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND REALLY BASE OUR DECISIONS ON WHAT WE'RE MAKING ON THE GOALS THAT ARE OUTLINED IN THE, UH, A S AND P SHARED MOBILITY INDICATORS AND TARGETS.
RIGHT? INCREASING THE USAGE OF MOBILITY SOLUTIONS, INCREASING THE SHARE THAT ORIGINALLY END IN UNDERREPRESENTED AREAS, UH, INCREASE THE COVERAGE AND INCREASE THE DENSITY OF SHARED MOBILITY VEHICLES.
UM, THEN THERE'S A SECOND PART TO THIS, WHICH I'M GONNA NEED TO BACK UP A LITTLE BIT ON.
UM, THIS COMMISSION IN PARTICULAR, MANY YEARS AGO BEFORE, I THINK EVEN YOU WERE ON THE COMMISSION, BUT CORRECT ME, UM, STARTED ON AN EFFORT ALONG WITH CITY STAFF, UM, TO MAKE IT A LOT EASIER TO GET TRANSPORTATION LICENSES, TRANSPORTATION, UM, OPERATING AUTHORITIES, THINGS PERMITS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
I'M TALKING ABOUT LIKE PETTY CABS, VALETS AND DOCKLESS VEHICLES ARE ONE OF THEM.
UM, IT USED TO BE AS A VERY ONEROUS PROCESS THAT REQUIRED REVIEW BY THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION AND SOMETIMES EVEN COUNCIL ACTION.
UM, AND I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WANTED THAT.
IT WAS ONEROUS FOR THE VENDORS, IT WAS ONEROUS FOR THIS COMMISSION.
IT WAS ONEROUS FOR CITY COUNCIL.
SO I THINK THOSE CHANGES WERE GOOD.
I THINK ONE THING THAT HAS BEEN LOST IN THOSE CHANGES IS THE RIGHT OF THOSE APPLICANTS TO APPEAL DECISIONS.
UH, AND SO THAT'S THE SECOND PART, IS MAKING SURE THAT WHEN RULES ARE MADE, THERE IS, UH, AVAILABLE TIME FOR PEOPLE TO COMMENT ON THOSE RULES.
AND FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THOSE RULES, UH, THERE ARE SOME METHOD BY WHICH THEY CAN APPEAL THOSE.
AND THOSE EXIST, UM, RIGHT NOW FOR VARIOUS ONES.
UM, I KNOW VALET SERVICES HAVE AN APPEAL MECHANISM.
THIS WOULD JUST STANDARDIZE IT SO THAT, UM, PETTY CABS AND EVERYONE ELSE HAVE THAT ABILITY.
AND THIS ISN'T ENTIRELY RELATED TO SCOOTERS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, LYMAN BIRD ARE OKAY, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY'RE, THEY'RE GONNA BE FINE.
THEY CAN MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY.
UH, BUT I DO WORRY ABOUT WHAT COULD HAPPEN, YOU KNOW, IF A FUTURE DIRECTOR WANTED TO MAKE RULES THAT REALLY TIGHTENS PETTY CAPS, RIGHT? WHERE WE HAVE A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, SMALL BUSINESSES AND THAT COULD REALLY AFFECT THEM.
SO I THINK STANDARDIZING THIS IS A GOOD IDEA.
UM, AND THIS IS A WAY TO DO IT, WHAT I'VE WRITTEN OUT THERE IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS THOSE RULES TO TAKE EFFECT WHILE THE APPEAL IS HAPPENING.
UM, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY ALLOWS FOR A, A LIMITED PUBLIC INPUT THAT ISN'T OVERLY BURDENSOME TO ANYONE.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THE TOP PART.
UM, AND I GUESS FEEL FREE TO JUMP IN FOR QUESTIONS OR I'M HAPPY TO TAKE THEM AT THE END IF ANYTHING DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
BUT I'M JUST GONNA KIND OF CONTINUE DOWN, UM, ON THE MORATORIUM ON NEW MICRO MOBILITY LICENSES.
UM, WHAT I WILL SAY IS THAT I AM SLIGHTLY CONCERNED THAT THE DUOPOLY, UM, THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW OF LIME AND BIRD, THE EFFECT THAT HAS ON PRICING.
UM, AND I THINK THIS WOULD ALSO PROBABLY BE A, A GOOD TIME TO, I WANNA PUSH BACK ON THE IDEA THAT RIDERSHIP HAS DECREASED.
UM, I THINK IF YOU LOOK PRE PANDEMIC, WE HAD A REALLY GREAT SYSTEM THAT, UH, FOLKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, UM, INCLUDING NATO APP, PEL AS, AS AN EXAMPLE, WHAT YOU THEN SAW HAPPEN IS A NATURAL DECLINE DURING THE PANDEMIC.
AND THEN WE DIDN'T GET BACK UP TO THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES WE HAD PRE PANDEMIC IN THE SYSTEM UNTIL MARCH OF 2023.
AND THEN IN OCTOBER OF 2023, WE FINALLY HIT PRE PANDEMIC RIDERSHIP, UH, WHERE IT MATCHED UP THE 2019 LEVELS AND THEN LINK CAME OFF AND THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES DECREASE, AND SO DID THE RIDERSHIP AS WELL.
UM, SO I THINK WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP THAT SUPPLY HAS WITH DEMAND ON THIS, BUT I DON'T THINK WE CAN MAKE A DECISION THAT, UH, RIDERSHIP HAS DECREASED AND IT'S GONNA CONTINUE TO DECREASE.
SO THEREFORE WE SHOULD HAVE ADDITIONAL RULES.
AND I THINK ALLOWING SPACES FOR, FOR NEW MICRO MOBILITY VENDORS AND PERHAPS EVEN INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES THAT AREN'T AVAILABLE IN OUR COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW, UM, IS IMPORTANT.
NOT JUST TO KEEPING PRICES LOW LONG TERM, BUT ALSO GETTING US BACK TO THAT LEVEL, RIGHT? WE DON'T NEED TO HAVE SEVEN VENDORS AGAIN.
UH, BUT THREE OR FOUR MIGHT BE A GOOD THING FOR BOTH OUR MOBILITY SOLUTIONS, UH, AND FOR PRICING FOR CONSUMERS SO THAT THIS REMAINS AN AFFORDABLE IDEA.
UM, CONTINUING ON THAT, IF WE CONTINUE TO ONLY HAVE TWO VENDORS, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE GIVE STAFF TOOLS, UH, TO CONSIDER HOW PRICING MIGHT BE AFFECTING, UH, UH, OR THE LACK OF VENDORS MIGHT BE AFFECTING PRICING AND TOOLS FOR THEM TO REDUCE THAT IMPACT ON LOW INCOME INDIVIDUALS OR EVEN REDUCE THAT IMPACT, UM, OVERALL.
SO THERE ARE THREE OPTIONS IN THERE.
UM, I'M GONNA SKIP THE, UM, THING THAT SAYS CHANGING THE CAP BECAUSE I BELIEVE WE HAVE AN AMENDMENT ABOUT THAT.
'CAUSE IT DOESN'T SUPER MAKE SENSE THE WAY IT'S WRITTEN RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT I DO THINK THERE IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A MECHANISM ON TERMS OF THE TOTAL CAP, UH, THAT WE HAVE ENUMERATED IN RULES, A FAIR SYSTEM BY WHICH ALL VENDORS CAN INCREASE, UH, WHEN IT'S NECESSARY.
I'M THINKING SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, RIGHT? ENUMERATING IN THE RULES THAT THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY
[02:30:01]
FOR YOU TO INCREASE THE NUMBER, UH, THAT YOU NEED IN ORDER TO MEET THAT DEMAND.UM, NEXT IS ON THE, UH, DOCKLESS E-BIKE PERMITS.
UM, THE DIRECTOR ALREADY MENTIONED HE'S DELAYING THAT UNTIL THE, UM, UH, NEW, UH, TRANSPORTATION SET ASIDE GRANT TAKES EFFECT.
THE ONE THING I'LL NOTE ABOUT THAT, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING OF THAT GRANT, IS THE A HUNDRED NEW STATIONS ALSO INCLUDE REPLACING 87.
UM, SO THERE AREN'T GONNA BE THAT MANY NEW STATIONS.
SO I THINK THE BETTER TARGET WOULD BE THE 2023 BICYCLE PLAN GOAL OF 300 STATIONS.
UH, THE BICYCLE PLAN, UH, AIMS FOR 2025 TO BE THE YEAR, UM, THAT WE ACHIEVE THAT.
UM, THE OTHER THING IT ASKS IS THAT WE PERHAPS CONSIDER THE WAY DOCKLESS E-BIKE PERMITS COULD BE USED AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THE METRO BIKE SYSTEM, PERHAPS IN AREAS THAT METRO BIKE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO REACH.
UM, I'M THINKING OF NORTH BURN GATEWAY, RIGHT? AN AREA WHERE BCYCLE USED TO SERVE, BUT IT WAS TOO FAR OUT FOR THEM TO SERVE RIGHT BACK WHEN IT WAS BCYCLE AND NOT, UH, METRO CYCLE, UM, OR METRO BIKE.
UH, BUT MAYBE A A A VENDOR WHO'S INTERESTED IN, UH, DOCKLESS E-BIKES COULD SERVICE THAT AREA.
AND THEN THERE ISN'T PRESSURE ON CAP METRO TO TRY TO REACH ALL THE WAY UP TO THIS DENSE AREA THAT ISN'T REALLY SURROUNDED BY OTHER AREAS THAT THEY WOULD WANNA SERVE.
UM, AND THE LAST IS TO BETTER ADDRESS WHAT THE, THE DIRECTOR WAS TALKING ABOUT.
UM, IT, THEY ABSOLUTELY, THERE ABSOLUTELY ARE, ESPECIALLY THE ONES LYME HAVE, UM, TAKE UP MORE SPACE THAN A SCOOTER.
SO ONE THING A LOT OF OTHER CITIES HAVE LOOKED AT IS REQUIRING DOCKLESS BICYCLES TO PARK AT A BICYCLE, UH, RACK.
I THINK THAT WOULD PROBABLY NEED A CODE CHANGE.
UH, BUT I THINK THAT'S A, A REASONABLE REQUIREMENT, UM, THAT WE ASK BICYCLES TO PARK AT BIKE RACKS WHEREVER THEY'RE ACCESSIBLE.
UM, AND THAT SHOULD REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CLUTTER, UH, RIGHT, AND REDUCE THE IMPACTS ON RIGHT OF WAY.
UM, NEXT IS REDUCING THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES ALLOWED TO OPERATE WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PROJECT COORDINATION ZONE.
UM, I DEFINITELY GET THE GOAL TO SPREAD OUT, UM, OUR, OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, DOCKLESS VEHICLES, RIGHT? UM, I LIVE IN MUELLER, UH, AND ONE OF THE THING THAT THAT SUPER BUGS ME IS I HAVE SO MANY TIMES WHERE I WANT TO USE A SCOOTER, UM, AND IT'S KIND OF HIT OR MISS IF I'M SERVED IN THAT AREA.
UM, AND I THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY, UM, MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES THAT COULD REALLY BENEFIT FROM HAVING THAT SERVICE.
UM, BUT WHEN I'VE TALKED TO LYME AND, AND, AND BIRD TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, WHAT, WHAT THEY SAY IS THAT THEY ALSO WANT TO EXPAND THEIR SERVICE AREA, BUT THEY KIND OF RELY ON THAT DOWNTOWN AREA TO SUBSIDIZE, UM, RIGHT, THEIR ABILITY TO THEN GO OUT INTO OTHER AREAS.
UM, A LOT OF THEM HAVE UP TO WELL ABOVE TWO, UH, UM, UH, USES OF A, A VEHICLE PER DAY.
UM, AND THEN WHEN THEY LOOK OUTSIDE OF THE DS E, UM, SOME, A LOT OF TIMES IT'S UNDER TWO.
IT'S AS LOW AS, YOU KNOW, I THINK, I DON'T WANT TO GIVE THE EXACT QUOTE, BUT I THINK LYME SAID OUTSIDE THE DAPS E IT'S UNDER 1.5.
UH, I'M SORRY, LYME IF THAT'S WRONG, RIGHT? BUT THEY, THEY VERY MUCH NEED THAT DEMAND TO DRIVE EVERYTHING ELSE.
SO THIS GIVES, UM, WAYS THAT WE CAN INCENTIVIZE THAT ONE, WE CAN INCENTIVIZE THEM TO, UM, INCREASE THEIR REDUCED PRICING PROGRAMS. UM, AND TWO, WE CAN INCENTIVIZE THEM TO EXPAND ACROSS, UH, THE CITY IN PLACES THAT ARE NOT CURRENTLY SERVED.
AND IN EXCHANGE FOR THAT, UH, THEY CAN INCREASE THE AMOUNT THAT ARE IN THE DAPS E.
AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, OTHER CITIES ACROSS, UH, THE UNITED STATES HAVE DONE.
I'LL SAY I WORKED ON THE CITY OF LOUISVILLES, UH, DOCKLESS VEHICLE POLICY WAY BACK IN THE DAY.
UM, AND THEY HAVE A VERY SIMILAR PROGRAM AS WELL.
IT'S DONE MORE IN PERCENTAGES.
I THINK THIS IS ONE THAT FITS WELL WITHIN THE, UH, CAP THAT THE DIRECTOR HAS ALREADY PLACED.
UM, AND THE NEXT PART IS JUST A, UH, A SURGE, RIGHT? UM, THE GREAT THING ABOUT DOCKLESS VEHICLES COMPANIES IS THEY CAN BE VERY DYNAMIC, RIGHT? THEY CAN CHANGE THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES THEY HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, WITHIN A 12 TO 24 HOUR PERIOD.
SO IF THERE'S EXCEEDINGLY GOOD WEATHER AND PEOPLE WANT TO GO SCOOTER OUTSIDE, UM, RIGHT? ESPECIALLY IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, UM, WE SHOULD BE PROVIDING A SPACE FOR LIME AND BIRD IN ANYONE ELSE, UH, TO MEET THAT DEMAND, RIGHT? SO MORE PEOPLE ARE CHOOSING TRIPS THAT ARE NOT, YOU KNOW, A A SINGLE OCCUPANCY VEHICLE IN A CAR.
UM, SO THAT'S WHAT THAT GETS TO THAT SURGE.
AND I WILL NOTE THAT THRESHOLD OF, UM, TRIPS PER SCOOTER PER DAY, UM, THAT IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED A NATIONAL BEST STANDARD.
I THINK I'M FAIR IN SAYING THAT NATO ALSO RECOMMENDS THAT STANDARD.
UM, AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE YOU ARE, YOU ARE MEASURING TWO THINGS, BOTH YOU'RE MEASURING RIDERSHIP, UM, AND YOU KIND OF GET A SENSE FOR THE LATENT DEMAND, RIGHT? IF THAT NUMBER GETS HIGH, THAT'S PROBABLY AN INDICATOR THAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR SCOOTERS, RIGHT? SO THAT NECESSARILY MEANS THAT IT MAKES SENSE TO THEN INCREASE THE SUPPLY OF THOSE.
UM, AND THEN WE GET INTO THE REDUCING MAXIMUM SPEED.
UM, I THINK WHAT I WOULD SAY IS, AND AND I, I REMEMBER ACTUALLY GETTING THE PRESENTATION THAT DIRECTOR MENDOZA WAS REFERRING TO AT THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
UM, AND ONE OF THE THINGS I, I ASKED EMS
[02:35:01]
THERE WAS HOW MANY OF THESE ACCIDENTS WERE CAUSED BECAUSE OF A COLLISION WITH A MOTOR VEHICLE.UM, AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE AN ANSWER TO THAT, RIGHT? THEY JUST DON'T HAVE THE DATA.
UM, SO I DON'T THINK, I'M NOT GONNA SAY THAT, UM, NON-COMPLIANCE ON, ON TRAFFIC LAWS ON SCOOTERS IS AN ISSUE.
UM, PEOPLE DRINKING AND THEN HOPPING ON A SCOOTER IS AN ISSUE VERY CLEARLY.
THOSE ARE ISSUES, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THEY CAN BE WHOLLY ATTRIBUTED, UM, TO THE SAFETY ISSUES, UM, IN THOSE MAIN ENTERTAINMENT AREAS.
AND I ALSO HAVE A CONCERN THAT, YOU KNOW, I AM SOMEONE WHO FREQUENTS THE MAIN ENTERTAINMENT AREAS, RIGHT? UH, AND IF I'M SCOOTERING, ESPECIALLY SCOOTERING THERE, UM, AND I CAN ONLY GO 10 MILES PER HOUR, I'M NOT GONNA FEEL COMFORTABLE RIDING, UH, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, ESPECIALLY ON A, A, A STREET LIKE RED RIVER OR SIXTH STREET, WHERE, WHERE YOU CAN, UM, RIGHT? BECAUSE I'M GONNA BE GOING VERY SLOW COMPARED TO THE MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC AROUND ME.
SO I'M GONNA RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK.
UM, AND I THINK THAT CREATES ITS OWN SAFETY ISSUES.
UM, SO THIS ASKS FOR ONE BETTER DATA, UH, BUT TWO PERHAPS TO CONSIDER OTHER SOLUTIONS.
UM, AND THOSE INCLUDE, UM, BOTH LINEMAN, BIRD HAVE AN ABILITY TO DO AN IN-APP SAFETY CHECKPOINT.
UM, SO THAT'S WHERE, LIKE YOU HAVE TO SOLVE A MATH EQUATION, UH, BEFORE YOU CAN GET ONTO ALY.
UM, RIGHT? THAT'S ONE BUILT IN WAY THAT YOU CAN PREVENT PEOPLE FROM SCOOTING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE.
UH, THE OTHER ONE COULD BE MOTOR VEHICLE SPEED REDUCTIONS, RIGHT? IF WE ARE ASKING SCOOTERS TO BE ON THE STREET, UM, AND THEY HAVE TO BE IN MIXED TRAFFIC, 'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE BIKE LANES IN MOST OF THE PLACES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, THEN IT SEEMS REASONABLE THAT WE SHOULD ASK MOTOR VEHICLES TO GO THE SAME SPEED TOO, RIGHT? THERE'S A HIGH NUMBER OF PEDESTRIANS.
UH, AND THE OTHER ONE IS IT'S QUICK BUILD ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE.
I DON'T THINK WE CAN UNDER COUNT, UH, THE IMPACT THAT OUR POOR DOWNTOWN MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE PLAYS, RIGHT? WE REALLY HAVE ONLY ONE PROTECTED BIKE LANE DOWNTOWN.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA COUNT CONGRESS AT LATE AT NIGHT BECAUSE I THINK ANYONE WHO'S TRIED TO DO THAT KNOWS IT'S BLOCKED, RIGHT? AND YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO AROUND, AND I KNOW THE DEPARTMENT'S WORKING ON, ON FIXING THAT AS WELL, BUT THE REALITY IS THERE ARE NOT A LOT OF SAFE SPACES TO SCOOTER LATE NIGHT AT DOWNTOWN, AND THAT CAN ONLY EXACERBATE THE PROBLEMS WE'RE SEEING.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY IS THE, UM, ASSIGNING, UH, RESTRICTED, UH, DIVISING AREAS.
SO THE FIRST PART TALKS ABOUT, UM, TWO NATO, UH, BEST STANDARDS, WHICH ONE, UM, TALKS ABOUT PUTTING THESE ON STREET.
UM, IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT IS ALREADY THE WAY THE, THE DEPARTMENT IS GOING, SO THAT'S GREAT, RIGHT? THAT IS BEST FOR A DA ACCESSIBILITY, RIGHT? THAT WE HAVE, UH, THE REQUIRED PARKING ON THE STREET RATHER THAN OFF THE STREET WHERE THOSE IMPACTS WITH PEDESTRIANS, UM, AND ACCESSIBLE FOLKS CAN HAPPEN.
UM, THE SECOND PART OF THAT IS TO LIMIT THE USE OF GEOFENCING.
UM, I, I THINK IDEALLY WHAT WE WOULD WANT IS FOR THESE STREET CORRALS ON STREET PARKING SPACES, UM, TO BE VERY CLEAR AND IDENTIFIABLE.
UM, THE REALITY IS THAT I, I, I THINK LINE AND BIRD AND ALL OF THEM WILL TELL YOU, UM, IT'S NOT ALWAYS, GEOFENCING ISN'T ALWAYS A PERFECT SOLUTION WHEN YOU'RE GEOFENCING DOWN TO SUCH A SPECIFIC AREA.
AND I THINK I'M, I'M PROBABLY NOT ALONE IN PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THIS.
UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF MY BIGGEST FRUSTRATIONS IS ANYTIME YOU'RE, YOU'RE BIKING ON OR, OR YOU'RE SCOOTERING ON THE, UH, NORTHBOUND BIKE LANE ON GUAD, YOU GET HIT WITH THE SPEED REDUCTION THAT'S ON THE UNIVERSITY EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE NOT ON UNIVERSITY, UM, UH, RIGHT AWAY, RIGHT? SO THERE ARE ISSUES WITH THAT.
SO IDEALLY BUILDING OUT THESE STREET CORRALS IS THE SOLUTION.
UM, AND THE SECOND PART, UM, ALSO GETS TO THAT.
SO, UH, DIRECTOR MENDOZA, I BELIEVE AT THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE SAID BUILDING OUT STREET CORRALS AS MUCH AS WE NEED THEM WILL COSTS 1.2 MILLION, RIGHT? I THINK THAT'S RIGHT.
UH, UM, SO ONE WAY THAT WE CAN GET THERE IS INCREASING THE, UH, DOCKLESS TRANSPORTATION UNIT FEE FROM, UH, $40 TO 47.5, UH, IN THE BACKUP.
THEY HAVE IT ON A PER YEAR, UH, WHICH MAKES SENSE, BUT THEY'RE ASSESSED, UH, UH, TWICE A YEAR.
SO THAT'S WHY MY NUMBERS ARE HALF OF THE NUMBERS THEY HAVE.
UM, IF YOU MATH THAT OUT FOR HOW MANY VEHICLES WE HAVE RIGHT NOW, UH, THAT WILL PROVIDE THE CITY WITH ABOUT, UH, AN EXTRA A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR THAT WE CAN DIRECTLY DEDICATE, UM, TO BUILDING OUT THESE STREET CORRALS.
IF WE CAN DO HAVE THE CITY MATCH HALF OF THAT, UM, WE CAN BUILD OUT ALL OF THESE STREET CORRALS IN SIX YEARS.
UM, I THINK THAT'S A REASONABLE TARGET IN SOMETHING WE SHOULD BE STRIVING FOR.
UM, AND IN ORDER TO KIND OF LESSEN THE BURDEN ON THE VENDORS, UM, WE ASK THAT THE PERFORMANCE BOND, WHICH IS KIND OF LIKE A SURETY BOND FOR EACH VEHICLE, UH, BE REDUCED FROM A HUNDRED DOLLARS PER VEHICLE TO $92.50 PER VEHICLE.
UM, I LOOKED AND OURS SEEM HIGHER THAN MOST OTHER P CITIES, OUR FEES THERE.
UM, A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE A FLAT FEE RATHER THAN A PER VEHICLE FEE.
UM, AND EVEN THOUGH THIS DOESN'T COMPLETELY EQUATE OUT RIGHT, IT WILL END UP BEING MORE MONEY FOR THE VENDORS.
UH, BOTH LYMAN BIRD TOLD ME IF, IF THE MONEY IS GOING TOWARDS, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE THAT HELPS SCOOTERS THERE ARE
[02:40:01]
COMPLETELY ON BOARD WITH, UH, THIS SWAP, RIGHT? THAT MAY COST THEM A LITTLE MORE IN THE LONG RUN.UM, AND THEN THE LAST PART KIND OF GOES TO THAT VISUAL CUES WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, UM, TRYING TO GET CREATIVE IN WAYS THAT WE CAN GET PEOPLE TO KNOW TO PARK, UH, IN THESE STREET CORRALS AND, UH, ALSO MAKE THEM A PART OF THE COMMUNITY.
UH, DETROIT AND SAN FRANCISCO HAVE DONE ADOPT A CORRAL PROGRAMS WHERE COMMUNITIES CAN KIND OF PAINT MURALS OR, YOU KNOW, PUT UP SIGNS FOR THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO THESE BECOME PLACEMAKING OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, AND THEN THE PRESENCE OF SCOOTERS ISN'T AS THREATENING TO THE COMMUNITY AS I THINK SOMETIMES PEOPLE HAVE IT, UH, WHEN WE'RE ABLE TO EMBED THESE PARKING SOLUTIONS IN A CREATIVE PLACE MAKING WAY.
UM, AND THEN, UH, THE LAST PART JUST TALKS ABOUT 3 1 1 USAGE AND THEN, UH, PERIODIC PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT CAMPAIGNS WITH GET THEIR A TX ON HOW TO PARK A SCOOTER.
UM, AND THAT IS EVERYTHING THAT'S A, AS YOU NOTED, VERY MEATY RECOMMENDATION.
I IMAGINE THERE'S SOME DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER.
YOU ALREADY INDICATED THAT SOME, YOU, YOU, YOU'RE AWARE THAT SOME OTHER COMMISSIONERS MAY HAVE MOTIONS TO AMEND THAT THEY MAY WANNA, UH, BRING TO US TODAY.
SO I, I DON'T HAVE A LOT OF DISCUSSION MYSELF.
I'LL JUST KIND OF CYCLE THROUGH QUESTIONS OR MOTIONS THAT PEOPLE WANNA MAKE AND HELP FACILITATE THIS.
AND I WOULD ALSO ADD, IF NOW SEEING THIS RECOMMENDATION IN GREATER DETAIL, IF YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS FOR STAFF, I'M SURE WE CAN ASK SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS AS WELL.
I, I GUESS I DID HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR, UH, THE CITY REGARDING COLLISION SLASH INJURIES.
IS IT ACCURATE TO SAY THAT IT SOUNDS LIKE PERHAPS THE MORE OF THE INJURIES THAT ARE HAPPENING ON SCOOTERS ARE TO THE INDIVIDUALS RIDING THE SCOOTERS RATHER THAN COLLISIONS BETWEEN SCOOTERS AND OTHERS? UH, RIGHT NOW, I THINK THE DATA WOULD, WOULD PROBABLY SAY THAT WHAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US, WE MAY LIKELY SHOW THAT THE BETWEEN VEHICLES, RIGHT.
WE DO HAVE SOME DATA THAT COMES FROM THE PROVIDERS THAT, THAT HAVE ESCALATING NUMBERS AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, FROM ONE TO FIVE IF, DEPENDING ON WHAT KIND OF COLLISIONS THEY ARE.
BUT I, I WOULD PROBABLY DO A DISSERVICE, UM, TO PROVIDE INFORMATION THAT IS WRONG.
'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER OR HAVE INFORMATION ON THAT CLEARLY YET.
SO IT'S NOT TOTALLY CLEAR IF THERE IS A WEIGHT TO INJURIES BASED ON COLLISION WITH A TYPE OF OTHER VEHICLE VERSUS TWO INDIVIDUALS.
NO, I COULD, I COULD WORK WITH OUR VISION ZERO TO GET SOME MORE INFORMATION, BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT ON HAND.
UM, I THINK THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD STUFF IN HERE, BUT I AM, I DON'T THINK THAT I'M GOING TO BE VOTING FOR THIS TODAY.
AND I THINK THAT, UH, I FIND IT VERY BROAD AND I LIKE ABOUT HALF THE STUFF IN HERE, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF THE STUFF SURROUNDING PRICING AND SUBSIDIZATION AND JUST SORT OF EQUITY ZONES AND BONUS PROGRAMS THAT IS REALLY COMPLICATED.
AND, UM, A LOT OF THE OTHER STUFF THAT IS INVOLVING BUREAUCRATIC STAFF, RULE MAKING, AGENCY RULE MAKING, AND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ASPECTS OF THIS THAT I FIND I IS NOT SOMETHING I GENERALLY AGREE WITH.
AND I FEEL LIKE THAT SHOULD BE SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE TRUST OUR, YOU KNOW, APPOINTED CITY STAFF, UH, THEIR STAFF'S DISCRETION AND YOU KNOW, COUNCIL ALWAYS HAS THE ABILITY TO GO IN THERE AND SORT OF OVERRIDE THAT IF IT COMES TO THAT LEVEL.
BUT IF WE ARE EXPECTING TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS TO DO, UM, JUST FOR RULE MAKING REGARDING THINGS LIKE THIS, JUST LIKE SOME, UM, ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT, I, I THINK TRANSPARENCY IS ONE THING, BUT JUST LIKE, UM, LIKE SPENDING A LOT OF STAFF TIME DEVELOPING REPORTS AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, ON THE ONE HAND I DO WANT A LOT OF DATA DRIVEN DECISION MAKING, BUT YOU KNOW, THINGS CHANGE QUICKLY.
AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT LIKE A YEARLY OR SIX MONTH, UM, REVISITING, I FIND THIS TO BE OVERLY ONEROUS,
[02:45:01]
UM, SOME OF WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT.UM, AND I JUST, I DON'T KNOW THAT I FEEL COMFORTABLE AS A VOLUNTEER COMMISSIONER DOING SOMETHING SO PRESCRIPTIVE TO GIVE TO STAFF.
I MEAN, ARE THERE PARTS I DEFINITELY HEAR THAT, ARE THERE PARTS YOU WOULD WANNA STRIKE? UH, I WOULD DEFINITELY BE OPEN TO AMENDMENTS.
UM, I THINK, I DEFINITELY THINK THAT SOME OF THE, THERE'S A, FOR THE RESOLVED ON AN INCENTIVE PROGRAM TO REWARD VENDORS AND THAT ENTIRE BE IT FOR THE RESULT, I, I REALLY DO NOT FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD BE GETTING INVOLVED IN THE PRICING AND MAKING THAT SORT OF STATEMENT.
AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, THE, UM, I DON'T THINK YOU NEED MY VOTE.
SO I, THAT'S WHERE, I DUNNO IF I WANNA AMEND THIS WITHIN AN INCH OF ITS LIFE HERE, BUT I JUST, I DON'T THINK, I FEEL, I DON'T FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO BE COMFORTABLE SUPPORTING SOMETHING JUST THIS GENERALLY PRESCRIPTIVE FOR WHAT WE GENERALLY EXPECT CITY STAFF TO HAVE DISCRETION IN RULEMAKING.
I, I THINK SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT MORE NARROW OR LIKE A REVISITING OR A DELAY, I WOULD'VE, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW, I, OR I MIGHT ABSTAIN, BUT, UM, I, I DO NOT THINK I'M GOING TO FEEL, FEEL COMFORTABLE VOTING FOR THIS.
SO I'M GONNA TAKE, PUT ON MY FACILITATOR HAT SINCE I'M THE FACILITATOR FOR THIS ITEM.
I MEAN, I THINK SOMETIMES AT CITY COUNCIL EVERYBODY GOES AROUND AND SAYS THEIR PIECE AND THEY TELL YOU WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO, AND SOMETIMES THAT'S HELPFUL TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE NEXT STEP SHOULD BE.
SO WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO DO THAT, BUT I, YOU KNOW.
NO, NO, I THINK IT'S HELPFUL THAT YOU DID THAT.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I I WOULD SAY HERE, YOU KNOW, FOR ME, JUST SPEAKING, I, I WAS A SECOND FOR THIS SO WE COULD DISCUSS IT, BUT, UM, I DO HAVE SOME CONCERNS.
I WANNA, I WANNA DRIVE BACK TO THIS POINT.
THIS TO ME IS THE KEY THING THAT THE A SMP SHARED MOBILITY INDICATORS AND TARGETS, WHICH INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING POINTS, INCREASE THE USAGE OF SHARED MOBILITY SOLUTION, INCREASE THE SHARE OF SHARED MOBILITY TRIPS THAT ORIGINATE OR END IN AREAS THAT ARE HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED AND UNDERSERVED, INCREASE THE COVERAGE OF SHARED MOBILITY SOLUTIONS AND INCREASE THE DENSITY OF SHARED MOBILITY VEHICLES.
SO FOR ME, WHEN I'M ANALYZING THIS, I GO BACK TO THE PLAN OF OUR AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, AND THAT'S THE GOALS THAT OUR COMMUNITY HAS SAID THAT WE HAVE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE SOME RECENT CHANGES THAT IN SOME CASES, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M, I, I HOPE I'VE MADE CLEAR.
I, I'M REALLY WILLING TO TALK ABOUT THE SAFETY ISSUE AT NIGHT AND DRUNK SCOOTERING AND, AND ALL, LIKE ALL THOSE THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, I REALLY WILLING TO TALK ABOUT THOSE, BUT I, LIKE, I REALLY WANNA REFOCUS US ON THOSE ARE THE GOALS THAT WE'VE SAID THAT WE HAVE IS TO INCREASE THE DENSITY OF THE VEHICLES, INCREASE THE COVERAGE OF THE SOLUTIONS, INCREASE THE USAGE, INCREASE, YOU KNOW, THE SHARE THAT ARE IN UNDERREPRESENTED AND UNDERSERVED AREAS.
SO LIKE, THOSE SHOULD BE THE GOALS OF ALL OF OUR PLANNING AND ACTIONS.
IT'S UNCLEAR TO ME WHETHER THE RECENT RULE CHANGES THAT WERE ANNOUNCED ARE IN THE SERVICE OF THOSE GOALS.
AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK I, I REALLY WANNA PASS SOMETHING IN THIS BODY SOON BECAUSE I WANT TO GET, DIG INTO THAT BECAUSE I, IT'S UNCLEAR TO ME, UM, AND MAYBE IT'S UNCLEAR TO ME, LIKE DIRECTOR MOZZA, YOU, YOU TOLD US ABOUT THE PROCESS THAT YOU WENT THROUGH TALKING WITH VENDORS, TALKING WITH EMS, SAFETY OFFICIALS, DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, UH, BUSINESSES RELATED, BUT IT'S CLEAR THAT THE COMMUNITY WHO USES THE SCOOTERS AND YOU'VE GOT A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE HERE THAT ARE VERY INTENSELY INVOLVED IN TRANSPORTATION AND PAY ATTENTION TO EVERYTHING AND SIGN UP FOR ALL THE NEWSLETTERS THAT YOU LET US SIGN UP FOR AND, AND ALL THE THINGS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS UNTIL REALLY AS IT WAS HAPPENING.
AND SO I THINK THAT THERE WAS A PROCESS, BUT LIKE THE USERS AND THE COMMUNITY ARE ALSO PART OF THAT PROCESS.
AND COMING BACK TO THE C MOBILITY, A SMP, WHICH IS OUR PLAN, HOW DOES THAT RELATE? AND LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW WE, HOW WE'RE GOING FORWARD WITH THOSE GOALS.
AND ALSO GIMME SOME DAY, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU HAVE DATA, BUT LIKE I'D LOVE TO SEE REGULAR REPORTS ABOUT HOW WE'RE INCREASING COVERAGE AND HOW WE'RE INCREASING DENSITY AND THOSE THINGS.
SO I'M SORT OF TALKING A LITTLE BIT RHETORICALLY HERE.
I DON'T, I DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW THAT YOU NEED TO RESPOND, BUT I, I PERSONALLY AGREE WITH YOU IN LARGE PART THAT THERE'S SOME THINGS IN HERE THAT I'M NOT SURE THAT I'M READY.
I MIGHT BE EVENTUALLY, I, I MEAN, I'M NOT SURE THAT I'M READY TO PASS TODAY, BUT WHAT I AM DEFINITELY WILLING TO, TO TALK ABOUT IS THE PROCESS THAT SHOULD INCLUDE THE COMMUNITY OF USERS OF SHARED MOBILITY SOLUTIONS, AND THAT IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN SERVICE OF OUR AS SP SHARED MOBILITY GOALS.
[02:50:01]
I DON'T KNOW IF I HAD A QUESTION.YOU'RE WELCOME TO, TO ADDRESS WHAT I JUST SAID, BUT, UM, I, I THINK WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO WITH MOTION ON THE TABLE HERE, BUT IF YOU, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK DIRECTOR MENDOZA, WE'D WELCOME YOU TO DO THAT.
THAT'S VERY, VERY VALUABLE FEEDBACK.
AND SO YES, THOSE ARE STATED A SP GOALS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, AS HAS BEEN PASSED BY OUR GOVERNING BODY AND THE FACT THAT WE STILL HAVE MICRO DEVICES IN OUR CITY TODAY, UH, SHOW THAT WE ARE MAKING STRIDES TOWARDS THOSE GOALS.
HOWEVER, WE DO NEED TO INCREASE THOSE COVERAGES AND THE CONCENTRATIONS IN A RESPONSIBLE MANNER.
AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S HIRED ME TO BE THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS, UH, TO MAINTAIN AND OPERATE THE PUBLIC SPACE, PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY IN A RESPONSIBLE MANNER.
THAT FIRST AND FOREMOST, UH, THE PRIORITY FOR ME IS, IS SAFETY.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, GIVEN THE, THE OBSERVATIONS AND THE DATA AND THE CONVERSATIONS I'VE HAD WITH HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, I FELT IT WAS MY DUTY AS YOUR DIRECTOR TO IMPLEMENT THESE CHANGES.
UM, AND I WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING, UH, OR DELAY AN ACTION THAT I FEEL PUTS OUR COMMUNITY AT RISK.
AND SO, ACTING IN MY RESPONSIBLE ROLE, IT WAS THE PREMISE FOR THESE CHANGES.
AND I WILL, UH, CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THIS CLOSELY AND WORK WITH OUR VENDORS AND COMMUNITY AND POLICY MAKERS TO ENSURE THAT MICRO MOBILITY DEVICES ARE EFFECTIVELY MANAGED, GIVEN THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE IN OUR, UM, IN OUR DEPARTMENT, IN OUR CITY.
AND WE'LL WORK ON, UH, ON THESE IMPROVEMENTS TOGETHER GOING FORWARD.
SO THAT'S ALL I HAD TO MENTION ON THAT.
UM, I'M GONNA GO TO COMMISSIONER BROOKS REAL QUICKLY.
LET ME POINT OUT THAT THE A SMP IS IN THIS CASE A BIT OF A CONFUSING DOCUMENT BECAUSE UNDER THE HEADING OF SHARED MOBILITY, IT INCLUDES BUSES, IT INCLUDES CARPOOLS, IT INCLUDES ANYTHING THAT HAS MORE THAN ONE PERSON IN A VEHICLE AT ONCE.
AND MAYBE ONE OF THE THINGS WE OUGHT TO DO AS THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION IS SUGGEST SOME CLARIFICATIONS THAT COULD BE HELPFUL.
'CAUSE WE PERIODICALLY TALK ABOUT AMENDMENTS TO PLANS AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
YEAH, SO I GUESS I JUST WANT TAKE A SECOND AND EXPLAIN WHY I TOOK THE APPROACH I DID.
UM, ONE IS, I, I DIDN'T WANT TO PUT TOGETHER A RECOMMENDATION BECAUSE THE RULES ALREADY EXIST SAYING WE DON'T THINK THIS IS IT.
GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, RIGHT? I WANTED TO PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THAT'S WHAT, THESE ARE JUST RECOMMENDATIONS THAT I THOUGHT GOT US TO THOSE GOALS.
AND I THINK I WOULD DEFEND ANY OF THESE AS GETTING US TO THOSE GOALS.
THE SECOND THING I'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, COMMISSIONER KAMAN MENTIONED, RIGHT? LIKE, COUNCIL CAN DO THIS.
MY UNDERSTANDING, AND I DON'T WANNA SPEAK TOO MUCH ABOUT, YOU KNOW, FOLKS' DESIRES, IS THAT THERE IS AN INTEREST IN COUNCIL BRINGING SOMETHING AT THE MAY 30TH MEETING.
SO THAT IS PARTIALLY WHY, LIKE, YEAH, IDEALLY I WOULD LIKE THIS TO BE TWO SEPARATE RECOMMENDATIONS, MAYBE ONE THAT WE CONSIDER DOWN THE LINE, BUT THERE'S AN ACCELERATED TIMELINE BECAUSE COUNCIL'S GOING ON VACATION, NOT VACATION, RIGHT? BUT COUNCIL'S NOT MEETING FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS IN THE SUMMER.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY EVERYTHING IS HERE RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND THE OTHER THING I'LL SAY IS LIKE, THESE WERE NOT ARBITRARY DECA RECOMMENDATIONS I MADE, RIGHT? LIKE, OH, I, I WOULD NEVER, RIGHT? I KNOW I, AND I WAS NOT SUGGESTING THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID, BUT LIKE, I I, A LOT OF THESE ARE PULLED FROM, UH, HOW THE DIRECTOR'S RULES ARE LAID OUT.
A LOT OF THESE ARE PULLED FROM NATO.
A LOT OF THESE ARE PULLED FROM HOW OTHER CITIES HAVE APPROACHED THIS.
A LOT OF THESE HAVE BEEN PULLED FROM AND, AND MOLDED BASED OFF OF WHAT VENDORS HAVE EXPLAINED IS DOABLE ON THEIR END AND ECONOMIC ON THEIR END.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT IT, IT IS THOROUGH, RIGHT? BUT IT, IT, I I, I THINK I CAN DEFEND VERY WELL THAT THIS GETS US TOWARDS THOSE A SMP GOALS.
SO I'M THE FACILITATOR
UM, I THINK WE'VE KIND OF GOT COUPLE OPTIONS HERE.
ONE IS TO SPEND ANOTHER POTENTIALLY LARGE AMOUNT OF TIME WORKING TO AMEND OR, YOU KNOW, CUT SECTIONS OF THIS CHOP SLICE AND DICE IT UP.
ONE OPTION IS TO TAKE A VOTE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
UH, AND ONE OPTION IS TO, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO HELP ME PARLIAMENTARIAN TABLE OR POSTPONE IT.
[02:55:01]
I DON'T WANT TO TABLE IT JUST 'CAUSE I DON'T THINK POSTPONE IT.UM, WELL, YOU, YOU COULD DO EITHER.
UM, BUT, UM, SAY WE'RE GONNA TAKE IT UP IN THE FUTURE, WE'RE GONNA TRY TO COME BACK WITH A SLIMMER T TRIMMER, MORE POWERFUL, WHATEVER YOU WANNA, BASED ON MY UNDERSTANDING OF YEAH.
WHAT SOME FOLKS ON COUNCIL WANNA BE.
I DON'T THINK THERE IS AN EX OPTION, RIGHT? SO, UM, AND MAYBE THAT MAYBE THE MAY 30TH PLAN DOESN'T MATERIALIZE AND THERE IS, BUT BASED ON MY KNOWLEDGE NOW, I DON'T THINK THAT'S AN OPTION.
SO I THINK WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST IS, I KNOW I HAVE ONE QUICK AMENDMENT AND THAT STRIKES SOMETHING AND THEN, UM, COMMISSIONER BROOKS HAD AN AMENDMENT THAT HE WANTED TO ADD THAT WE ADD THOSE, TAKE A VOTE.
WE DON'T HAVE THE VOTES, THEN I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO RECONSIDER AND WE CAN GUT IT.
I, I HONESTLY, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW I'M GONNA VOTE, HONESTLY, SO I'M KIND OF STILL SIGNING.
UM, SO YOU HAVE AN, DO YOU WANNA MAKE AN A MOTION, A MOTION FOR AN AMENDMENT THEN? SURE.
SO I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO AMEND.
UM, AND THANK YOU FOR THE SECOND.
UM, SO THE AMENDMENT IS TO STRIKE AND THIS IS UNDER REDUCING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MAXIMUM PERMANENTED SCOTERS, UM, STRIKE FROM WHERE IT SAYS CAP STRIKE FROM SIX 6,700 TOTAL PERMANENT SCOTERS TO 3,700 PER VENDOR ALLOWING, STRIKE ALL THAT.
SO IT WOULD RE TOTAL BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE UTC RECOMMENDS TPW ALTER THE CAP TO ALLOW FUTURE VENDORS TO COMPETE WITH EXISTING VENDORS AT SIMILAR OPERATING LEVEL IF THEY DEMONSTRATE OPERATIONAL CAPACITY AND ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED BY THE DIRECTOR'S RULES.
UM, THIS WAS SOMETHING TO MAKE THIS LESS PRESCRIPTIVE ACTUALLY.
THIS IS ON PAGE 1, 2, 3, UH, BOTTOM OF PAGE THREE, VERY BOTTOM.
UH, SO I'LL, I'LL REPEAT IT AGAIN.
UNDER REDUCING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MAXIMUM PERMANENT SCOTERS STRIKE FROM AFTER THE CAP STRIKE FROM 6,700 TOTAL PERMANENT SCOTERS TO 3,700 PER VENDOR ALLOWING, AND THEN ADD TO ALLOW, SO IT READS TO ALLOW FUTURE VENDORS TO COMPETE WITH EXISTING VENDORS AT A SIMILAR OPERATING LEVEL IF THEY DEMONSTRATE OPERATIONAL CAPACITY AND ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED BY THE DIRECTOR'S RULES.
SO WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE TABLE TO AMEND AS JUST DISCUSSED.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION OR DO PEOPLE NEED CLARIFICATION OF THE MOTION OR IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION OF THAT? SO THAT'S BASICALLY GETTING RID OF THE NUMBERS AND BEING A BIT MORE VAGUE ABOUT WHAT THE CAPS WILL BE IF NEW VENDORS COME INTO THE MARKET, POTENTIALLY.
HEARING NONE, I'M GONNA CALL FOR A VOTE ON THAT AMENDMENT.
THIS IS NOT A VOTE ON THE BASE, BUT A VOTE, VOTE ON THIS ONE.
AMENDMENT TO THE RECOMMENDATION.
SO ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THAT, UH, AMENDMENT THAT IS MAKING MORE VAGUE THAN NUMBERS, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU'RE IN FAVOR OF THE AMENDMENT.
ARE YOU OKAY? WE'RE ALL THAT PASSES UNANIMOUSLY OF THOSE IN ATTENDANCE, IS THERE A SECOND POSSIBLE AMENDMENT THEN? OKAY, SO NOW WE HAVE, WE'RE BACK TO THE BASE.
I'LL, I'LL ALLOW IF THERE'S ANY FURTHER.
UM, AND I FEEL LIKE I, SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE ONLINE PEOPLE, I DON'T LOOK AT YOU AS MUCH AS I SHOULD.
I'M LIKE LOOKING AT THE PEOPLE THAT ARE HERE WITH ME IN THE ROOM.
AND I JUST WANNA ALWAYS APOLOGIZE FOR THAT.
IF THERE'S ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION OF THE MAIN RECOMMENDATION, WE CAN TAKE THAT NOW.
UM, IF PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS FOR, UH, COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER OR JUST GENERAL DISCUSSION.
I THINK WE'RE GONNA CALL FOR A VOTE.
I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT I'M GONNA DO HERE.
UM, ALL THOSE IN, UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE RECOMMENDATION.
UM, ALL THOSE OPPOSED? IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A BUNCH OF ABSTENTIONS.
I THINK WE NEED SOME WORK ON THIS.
UM, SO, ALRIGHT, SO I'LL MAKE A MOTION, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO RECONSIDER THE VOTE.
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE AT A FUTURE MEETING? NO, NOW, AND THEN I'LL JUST GUT EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE TRANSPARENCY SECTION.
[03:00:01]
SORRY.WHAT I'M ASKING TO DO IS MAKE A MOTION TO RECONSIDER THE VOTE THAT WILL BRING US BACK TO THE ITEM WHILE I'LL THEN OFFER IS IT SEEMS THE ISSUE IS BEING TOO PRESCRIPTIVE.
PEOPLE LIKE THE TRANSPARENCY SECTION.
SO I WILL MAKE A MOTION TO REMOVE EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE TRANSPARENCY SECTION.
THAT'S MY, OKAY, WELL LET'S, LET'S FIRST TAKE THE MOTION TO RECONSIDER THE VOTE.
SO I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO RECONSIDER THE VOTE.
I'M WILLING TO SECOND THAT AND WE NEED TO VOTE ON THAT.
SO ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF RECONSIDERING AND REOPENING THIS DISCUSSION.
AND I, COMMISSIONER BROOKS, ARE YOU VOTING YES ON THAT? YOU'RE NOT VOTING YES ON THAT.
AND THOSE OPPOSED TO RECONSIDERING THE VOTE? UH, I'M GONNA VOTE NAY IN THAT.
AND, UH, THEN YOU'RE ABSTAINING.
IS THAT WHAT YOU AND ANY OTHERS ABSTAINING BESIDES COMMISSIONER BROOKS.
SO THAT DOES PASS TO RECONSIDER.
I, I ACTUALLY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT, I DON'T, I FEEL THE TRANSPARENCY SECTION PROBABLY.
WELL, I DON'T, I DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THAT.
SPENCER, WHAT, IS THERE A PART OF THE TRANSPARENCY SECTION YOU'D LIKE TO REMOVE? ALL RIGHT, THIS IS WHAT THE MOTION I'M GONNA MAKE.
I AM GOING TO MAKE A MOTION TO AMEND, TO FIRST STRIKE THE WORD TRANSPARENCY.
THEN, UH, STRIKE EVERYTHING AFTER THE SECTION, UH, THAT STARTS THAT THE UTC RECOMMENDS THE RULEMAKING PROCESS ON DOCKLESS VEHICLES, PRIORITIZES STRIKE LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.
SO ALL THAT WE'RE SAYING IS BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT WE ALIGN THIS BETTER WITH OUR ASS AND P POLICIES, THAT WE PUT THIS UNDER RULEMAKING AND THIRD, THAT THE RULEMAKING PRIORITIZE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND BE EVALUATED ON WHETHER WE'RE MEETING OUR AS P TARGETS.
NO OTHER POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.
IN FACT, NO POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ACTUALLY, YES.
SO WELL NO, EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE TRANSPARENCY SECTION.
SO STRIKE, UM, UH, THE PART THAT SAYS THAT THE UTC RECOMMENDS TPW DEVELOP A REPORT ON SHARED MOBILITY GOALS IN THE AS S AND P.
SO FROM STRIKE THAT, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED AND EVERY BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED AFTER THAT, WAIT A MINUTE.
YOU'RE RECOMMENDING THAT WE, THEY, WE DON'T RECOMMEND THEY DEVELOP A REPORT.
I WAS STRIKING EVERYTHING UNDER THAT.
SO, SO YES, THAT INCLUDED EVERYTHING ELSE WE'RE RETAINING THAT, THAT TPW DEVELOP A REPORT ON SHARED MOBILITY GOALS AND A SMP, INCLUDING THE CITY'S PERFORMANCE.
I WAS PLANNING ON CUTTING THAT.
'CAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE WE DON'T WANNA MAKE ANY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND IT SOUNDS LIKE WE ALSO HAVE COMMISSIONERS CONCERNED ABOUT GENERATING ADDITIONAL WORK FOR STAFF.
SO I WAS PLANNING ON CUTTING THAT.
IF YOU WANNA MAKE A SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO INCLUDE THAT, I'M OKAY WITH THAT TOO.
IS IT, IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A MOTION TO NOT, NOT NECESSARILY TAKE, WELL, I GUESS TABLE IT JUST TO HAVE SOME MORE TIME TO CONSIDER? I FEEL LIKE WE'RE MAKING A LOT OF, SO PARLIAMENTARY WISE, NO, WE HAVE TO RESOLVE THIS ONE FIRST.
I'M PRETTY SURE, AND THIS IS A MOTION TO TABLE HIGHER THAN A MOTION.
YOU COULD MAKE A MOTION TO TABLE MY AMENDMENT.
UM, BUT I WOULD ALSO SAY THAT I AM FAIRLY CONFIDENT GIVEN THE INFORMATION I HAVE THAT THERE, THIS WILL NOT COME BACK.
SO IT IS, WE ARE PASSING SOMETHING DOWN.
I'M SAYING SO, SO, SO LIKE, I, I'M A BIG ADVOCATE FOR NOT TREATING THINGS AS EMERGENCIES.
LIKE THINGS HAPPEN AT COUNCIL, THEY FEEL LIKE EMERGENCIES.
MAYBE THERE ARE EMERGENCIES WE EXIST REGARDLESS OF THAT.
AND WE CAN PASS RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDLESS OF THAT, ON OUR OWN TIMEFRAME ON WHENEVER WE SEE FIT.
SO JUST BECAUSE THERE'S A DEADLINE WITH COUNCIL OR WE FEEL THAT COUNCIL'S ABOUT TO GO ON VACATION OR, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER COUNCIL'S GONNA DO.
AND WE WANNA HELP, YOU KNOW, COUNCIL, WHICH IS PART OF OUR ROLE, OBVIOUSLY, LIKE WE DON'T HAVE TO SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, I'M, WE JUST NEED TO SEASON THINGS MORE AND, AND THAT'S KIND OF HOW LIFE IS.
SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE CAN TAKE THIS, WE CAN TAKE THIS MATTER BACK UP AS OUR BODY, EVEN IF WE MISS THE COUNCIL DEADLINE.
I, YOU KNOW, IF THERE IS INDEED TO BE A COUNCIL DEADLINE, WHICH WE ARE NOT MAYBE CERTAIN OF THAT'S FAIR ENOUGH.
I WOULD SAY IF WE REALLY DON'T WANNA VOTE ON THIS TODAY, THEN POSTPONE IT INDEFINITELY.
'CAUSE I'M NOT SURE AT WHICH MEETING, AT LEAST IF I'M THE ONE CARRYING IT, I'M NOT SURE WHICH MEETING I WOULD WANNA BRING IT UP IF AT ANY, BUT I WOULD, IF, IF, UNLESS THAT IS THE MOTION THAT COMMISSIONER
[03:05:02]
SMITH WANTS TO MAKE, I WOULD PUT MY MOTION OUT THERE TO STRIKE ALL OF THAT AND JUST LEAVE THE, BE A FURTHER RESOLVE THAT WE BETTER ALIGN TO SHARED MOBILITY POLICIES THAT IT BE INCORPORATED INTO RULEMAKING THAT THE RULEMAKING PROCESS PRIORITIZE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND ALIGNING TO THE SHARED MOBILITY STUFF.JUST THAT, DID YOU GET A SECOND ON THAT? I HAVE NOT GOTTEN A SECOND.
SO THE, THE MOTION ON THE TABLE, LET ME REPEAT IT AGAIN, IS THAT WE CUT, WE KEEP THE EZS AND THEN ON PAGE TWO WE ELIMINATE THE BOLD TRANSPARENCY.
BUT THEN EVERYTHING AFTER THE BULLET THAT, THAT IT SAYS INCREASE THE DENSITY OF SHARED MOBILITY VEHICLES SEMI, THAT BECOMES A PERIOD MM-HMM.
AND THEN THE REST OF THE ENTIRE RECOMMENDATION IS CUT.
I WILL SAY I, I PERSONALLY WOULD'VE BEEN OKAY RETAINING A BIT MORE, BUT I ALSO LOOKING AT THE TIME, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE TIME TO, TO, OR, UH, DESIRE TO GET THROUGH ALL THAT, TO KEEP FIGURE OUT WHAT WE WOULD RETAIN AND MAYBE WHAT I WOULD RETAIN WOULD BE NOT WHAT SOMEBODY ELSE WOULD.
SO I FEEL THAT THAT COULD BE A GOOD WAY IF WE CAN PASS A VOTE, THAT THAT MAY BE A GOOD WAY.
IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION OF THAT? I WOULD LIKE TO REVISIT AT A LATER POINT, YOU KNOW, SOME OF MORE OF THESE INDIVIDUAL LITTLE THINGS BECAUSE IT IS COMPLICATED AND I THINK WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS RIGHT, BUT I THINK WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, BE OPEN TO THE IDEA THAT SOME OF THESE MIGHT COME BACK IN THE FUTURE.
I, I WOULD REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF GETTING, YOU KNOW, MORE REPORTING ON ESPECIALLY SAFETY WITH THESE.
THAT IS, UM, IF THERE ARE WAYS THAT WE CAN WORK WITH, YOU KNOW, PARTNERS IN EMS OR THE HOSPITALS OR HEALTHCARE TO REALLY UNDERSTAND AND VISION ZERO OFFICE TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THESE VEHICLES.
BECAUSE I MEAN, I DO NOT WANNA DENY, I MEAN, I ACTUALLY HAVE SOMEONE IN MY EXTENDED FAMILY WHO, UH, BROKE THEIR ELBOW ON A, ON A SCOOTER, SO, AND HAD A LOT OF, SOME LASTING IMPACTS FROM THAT.
SO I REALLY DON'T WANNA MINIMIZE ANY OF THAT.
BUT I JUST THINK THAT IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR TOTAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, THIS IS SORT OF LIKE, I WANNA SAY IT'S A DROP IN THE BUCKET, BUT I DON'T HAVE THE DATA TO ACTUALLY SHOW ME THAT.
AND I, I HORRIFIC ANECDOTES ABOUT SCOOTER INJURIES ARE INDEED HORRIFIC AND WE DON'T WANT ANY TRANSPORTATION RELATED INJURIES, BUT I THINK WE REALLY NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE TOTAL DATA OF THE CAUSATION OF THESE ACCIDENTS AND HOW THEY FIT INTO OUR TOTAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE SOME WORK ON THIS BODY IN THE FUTURE ON THAT, BUT MAYBE WE'RE JUST NOT, NOT, NOT THERE TONIGHT.
SO THERE ARE ALSO SOME OTHER ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN HANGING AROUND LITERALLY FOR DECADES THAT NOW HAVE, THERE'S SOME URGENCY FOR ADDRESSING THEM.
JUST A SIMPLE EXAMPLE I'VE TALKED ABOUT.
OKAY, WE KNOW THAT EVERYBODY WITHIN A HALF A MILE OF A LIGHT RAIL STATION CAN PROBABLY WALK TO THE LIGHT RAIL.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY'RE A MILE AND A HALF AWAY AND IT'S RAINING? DO WE HAVE ANY KNOWN SOLUTIONS THAT REALLY PROVIDE FOR ENHANCED TRANSPORTATION IN THAT METRO BIKE? UH, UH, DOCKLESS SCOOTERS, UH, LOOKS LIKE NOBODY'S LOOKED AT THE PROBLEM.
SO I'D LIKE TO, MAYBE THAT'S THE WAY TO PROCEED ON IT.
COME UP WITH A BUNCH OF SCENARIOS OF TRANSPORTATION USE AND GO THROUGH THEM AND MATCH THEM AGAINST WHAT A SMP SAYS ABOUT THEM AND WHAT POSSIBLE POLICIES ARE.
ON THAT NOTE, IS IT POSSIBLE TO VOTE ON THE AMENDMENT THAT SPENCER PROPOSED AND THEN REVISIT THE REST OF IT? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
RECOMMENDATION AND THAT'S WHAT I'M ADVOCATING IS LIKE, JUST BECAUSE THERE'S, FEELS LIKE THERE'S A LOOMING EMERGENT DEADLINE WITH COUNCIL THAT DOESN'T IMPEDE OUR ABILITY TO DO OUR WORK IN THE FUTURE.
SO ONLINE PEOPLE, I DID IT AGAIN.
I HAVEN'T BEEN LOOKING AT YOU.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION, UM, ON THIS? SO WE HAVE, I THINK HOPEFULLY EVERYONE DOES UNDERSTAND THE CURRENT VERSION, WHICH IS, UH, CUTTING.
NO, WE HAVE NOT VOTED ON THAT.
SO I'M ABOUT TO CALL FOR A VOTE ON THAT UNLESS THERE'S FURTHER DISCUSSION.
SO I'M GONNA CALL FOR A VERSION ON THIS, UH, RECONSIDERED MOTION WITH AN AMENDMENT THAT CUTS ALMOST EVERYTHING AFTER THE BULLET POINT IN THE FORMER TRANSPARENCY SECTION THAT SAID, INCREASE THE DENSITY OF SHARED MOBILITY VEHICLES.
OKAY, WE'RE CALLING FOR A VOTE.
ALL IN FAVOR OF THAT ONE, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE.
SO WE HAVE, UH, ALL THOSE OPPOSED AND THOSE WHO MAY ABSTAIN.
[03:10:01]
UM, I DON'T THINK I SAW, I RECORDED THE VOTES OF COMMISSIONER SMITH, UM, OR COMMISSIONER BROWN.THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT.
COMMISSIONER BROWN, DID YOU WANNA RECORD YOUR VOTE? YES, I WAS WITHSTANDING ALSO.
I THINK WE HAVE PASSED THAT ONE.
DID WE, UH, WE HAVE TO, WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE BASE MODE, SO WE NEED TO, UH, OH, THAT WAS THE MOTION TO WE PASSED.
SO NOW WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK TO THE BASE AND VOTE ON THAT AGAIN.
AND WE'LL TAKE THAT REAL QUICKLY.
THOSE OPPOSED, THOSE ABSTAINING.
SO, UH, WE HAVE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, LIKE EVERYBODY EXCEPT COMMISSIONER SMITH AND BROWN, UH, IN FAVOR, AND THEY ABSTAIN THOSE TWO ABSTAINED.
SO, ALL RIGHT GUYS, THAT'S THE HARD WORK.
WE APPRECIATE OUR STAFF STAYING WITH US, PRESENTING TO US AND HEARING US OUT, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
ALL RIGHT, SO I WANNA TAKE THESE LIGHTNING FAST COMMITTEE UPDATES.
SO WE HAVE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION UPDATE FROM COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER, UH, REGARDING ACTIONS FROM THE APRIL 17TH MEETING.
DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, UH, NO UPDATES ACTUALLY.
UH, COMMISSIONER WHEELER IS NOT HERE FOR JOINT SUSTAINABILITY, SO WE'LL, SO I CAN GIVE NO, WE CAN'T DO THAT.
SO WE'RE SKIPPING THAT ONE, UH, UPDATE FROM
[9. Update from Commissioner Schumacher from the Bicycle Advisory Council regarding actions taken at the April 16, 2024 meeting ]
COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER ABOUT THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMISSION.UM, ONLY THING THAT WOULD BE OF INTEREST IS WE GOT AN UPDATE ON OUR AIRPORT BOULEVARD RECOMMENDATION.
UH, VERY ENCOURAGING CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICE.
MADE A LOT OF CHANGES WITH MARKINGS, WITH SIGNALS, UH, TPW AS WELL, UM, AND EVEN RECONSTRUCTING SOME SEGMENTS, WHICH IS GREAT.
[10. Update from Commissioner Kavelman from the Pedestrian Advisory Council regarding actions taken at the May 6, 2024 meeting ]
COMAN FOR PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY.UH, JUST SOME UPDATES FROM SHARED STREETS AND A TSD, BUT NO ACTIONS TAKEN.
[11. Update from Chair Somers on the City Council Mobility Committee regarding the April 23, 2024 meeting]
UH, UPDATE ON THE CITY COUNCIL MOBILITY COMMITTEE REGARDING APRIL 23RD MEETING.I DID NOT ATTEND BECAUSE, UM, THEY HAD A, LIKE, JOINT MEETING WITH PLANNING COMMISSION.
UM, SO THEY DID NOT TAKE A REPORT FROM ME.
SO THE NEXT TIME I REPORT TO THEM, I WILL REPORT ON OUR APRIL MEETING AND THIS MEETING, AND MAYBE EVEN MORE BECAUSE I DON'T WHEN'S THEIR NEXT, I HAVE TO LOOK AT THE NEXT MOBILITY MEETING.
BUT, UM, I DID NOT ATTEND, BUT THEY WERE TAKING UP SOME, UM, SOME SORT OF LAND USE STUFF THAT RELATES TO TRANSPORTATION JOINTLY WITH, UM, ANOTHER COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL.
UH, THE, THE NEXT MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE MAY 23RD.
UM, AND YES, IT WILL BE THE APRIL AND THE MAY MEETING YOU'LL BE REPORTING ONTO THEM.
UM, AND YOU, YOU CALLED IT DIRECTLY, UH, IT WAS A LOT OF LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, UM, ITEMS AT THE JOINT MEETING.
[12. Update from Chair Somers from the Community Advisory Committee for Austin Transit Partnership Board regarding actions taken at the April 11, 2024 meeting]
THEN, UM, UPDATES, UH, ON THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.IT WAS ACTUALLY VERY SIMILAR TO OUR UTC MEETING THAT WE HAD.
SO WE HAD A SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT UPDATE, VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE SAW, LITTLE MORE EMPHASIS, UM, ON, UH, AND THEN WE, WE SAW THE EO AND TRANSIT SUPPORTED CODE AMENDMENT, UM, WITH A STAFF PRESENTATION THERE.
AND WE ALSO HEARD ABOUT SOME LAND ACQUISITIONS OF THE TOKYO ELECTRON SITE, WHICH IS GONNA SUPPORT, UM, AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND OTHER MULTIMODAL GOALS NEAR, UH, THE PROJECT CONNECT LIGHT RAIL LINE.
AND WE HAD OUR CONFLICT OF INTEREST TRAINING.
AND THEN THAT WAS, UM, BASICALLY IT THERE.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
US TO OUR VERY, VERY LAST ITEM, WHICH IS THE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I DID WANNA, UH, LET COMMISSIONERS KNOW UPFRONT RIGHT AWAY.WE WERE HOPING TO HAVE URBAN TRAILS AT THIS MEETING.
IT DIDN'T WORK OUT TO HAVE IT AT THIS MEETING, BUT WE DO HAVE A URBAN TRAILS, UH, BRIEFING SCHEDULED FOR JUNE.
UM, AND THEN, UM, UH, I, AS FAR AS I KNOW, UNLESS SOMETHING CHANGES, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL HAVE A RECOMMENDATION AT THAT MEETING, BUT WE MIGHT HAVE LEARNED SOME THINGS AT THAT MEETING THAT MAKE US WANNA DO A RECOMMENDATION AT A LATER MEETING.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE ON HERE CORDO PROGRAM.
SO THIS IS STILL AS REFERENCED TODAY.
AND THE, THE SESSION THAT WE HAD WITH, UH, CAPITAL PROJECT DELIVERY, UH, SOME OF OUR MORE REGULAR UPDATE ON THOSE, UH, BUILD OUTS, TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA, MANUAL PARKING ENTERPRISE, JUST SORT OF LEARNING ABOUT THEIR UNIT, EO UPDATE WHENEVER THEY'RE READY TO CYCLE THROUGH PARTNERSHIP WITH TXDOT.
WE KIND OF TOUCHED ON SOME OF THOSE ISSUES TODAY.
LIKE I REALLY WANNA GET TDOT OUT HERE TO TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'RE WORKING WITH US ON THINGS THAT ARE KIND OF CITY STREETS AND MAYBE KIND OF NOT.
[03:15:01]
KNOW WE WANT GREEN STREETS TO COME BACK IN JULY AND THEN BIKE WALK ROLL.I THINK THAT'S REALLY MORE FOR FALL, ACTUALLY.
UM, POSSIBLY, UH, AMENDMENTS TO THAT.
UM, ARE THERE OTHERS THAT HAVE ARISEN BESIDES THIS LIST? I, TWO MEETINGS AGO.
I MEAN, I THINK MAYBE, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WOULD BE JUNE, BUT IT MIGHT BE JULY OR AUGUST.
I WOULD SAY END OF SUMMER MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME FOR THAT, BUT YES, I AGREE.
I THINK WE CAN ADD THAT TO THE LIST.
UH, AND IN, IN A SENSE THAT AND CAPITAL PROJECT DELIVERY, MAYBE THEY SHOULD BOTH BE QUARTERLY OR TH RICE A YEAR, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
COMMISSIONERS, I WANNA THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK TODAY.
UH, WITH THAT, UM, IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION, I'LL AJOUR THIS MEETING AT 8:18 PM.